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Governor Stcplieiis of California points with proper pride to his 
cucumbers. 



THE 

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

IN GARDEN and FIELD 



A MANUAL OF PRACTICE WITH AND 
WITHOUT IRRIGATION FOR SEMI- 
TROPICAL COUNTRIES 



EDWARD I. WICKSON, A. M. 

PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE, EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF 

CALIFORNIA; AUTHOR OF "CALIFORNIA FRUITS AND HOW 

TO GROW THEM"; "CALIFORNIA GARDEN-FLOWERS, 

SHRUBS, TREES AND VINES," ETC.; EDITOR OF 

THE "PACIFIC RURAL PRESS" OF 

SAN FRANCISCO 



FOURTH EDITION 

Revised and Sxtetided 



PACIFIC RURAL PRESS 

SAN FRANCISCO 
1917 






Copyright 1917 

BY 

EDWARD J. WICKSON and PACIFIC RURAL PRESS 





/- 


OCT 


121317 


©C; 


,A476581 



n^^ i 



PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION 

The purpose of the work is to give the newcomer, or old-resident begin- 
ner, an understanding of the peculiar gardening conditions which he encoun- 
ters in California and descriptions of practices which attain most satisfactory- 
results under those conditions. Experienced gardeners from other states and 
countries soon find that their accustomed procedure fails of its wonted results ; 
that the old times and ways of doing things are unsuitable, and that new rules 
of practice must be learned. Often those who have had no earlier gardening 
experience seek a rural home in California and desire to possess a home gar- 
den or to engage in commercial production of vegetables. They soon find that 
following the advice to beginnners given in books written for other climates, 
yields many disappointments. 

In addition to broad differences between California and other areas oc- 
cupied by English-speaking peoples in the Northern Hemisphere, conditions 
of soil and climate are very diverse within the boundaries of this common- 
wealth and gardening practice must vary with them. No matter how skilful 
and successful a man may be in his particular locality, his experience can only 
be a safe guide to those who happen to work under similar conditions. There- 
fore a suggestive treatise must analyze the local conditions and practice and 
translate them into terms of wide applicability. To do this it is necessary 
that the principles underlying the successful practice should be discerned and 
the significance of conditions be interpreted. That this character has been in 
some degree attained in this work is attested by its acceptance as a guide in 
all parts of California and by the sphere of popularity and usefulness it has 
entered in distant countries, which have resemblance to California in climatic 
conditions and desire to establish similar industries upon them. 

The writer has had opportunity for wide collection of data, and for ex- 
tended personal observation as well, and his effort has been continually in- 
spirited by enthusiastic delight in the subject itself, gained from his own 
garden work. 

In the preparation of this edition, the text has been carefully revised and 
freshened with the latest information, and the type has been re-set throughout. 
In a work of this kind, involving the experience and observation of many 
individuals during a considerable period of time, it is impossible to render a 
full account of the writer's indebtedness. Wherever direct use has been made 
of the experience and methods which others have formulated, an attempt has 
been made to render definite credit to the source. When such accounts of 
experience are used without citation of publication, credit is, in most cases, 
due to the columns of the PaciHc Rural Press, a journal which has been the 
chief medium for the publication of information of this kind for the last forty- 
seven years. 

Edward J. Wickson. 

University of California, Berkeley, October, 1917. 



[Ill] 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

Opposite 
Page 

Governor Stephens points with pride to his cucumbers Frontispiece 

A picturesque river-bank garden irrigated with Chinese pump 32 

Onions and lettuce. Laying off for cultivation and irrigation 33 

Laying off in ridges and ridges flattened for planting 40 

Tomatoes, cantaloups, etc., in young orchard 41 

Globe artichokes in the foreground of a farm garden near Stockton 56 

Bean field in the Imperial Valley furrowed out for irrigation 57 

Digging sugar beets with a tractor on the Meek Ranch near Antioch 64 

Section of a cabbage field in the Modesto District, San Joaquin Valley. . 65 

Cauliflower field showing method of furrowing out and irrigating 96 

Pulling celery plants from seed-bed and transplanting to deep furrows in 
the field 97 

Field of banked celery in the vegetable region of Orange County 128 

Corn field near a head ditch in Princeton District of Colusa County 129 

Lettuce set at edge of moisture; also headed lettuce right to gather 160 

Fruiting of cantaloup in a California garden on moist land 161 

Cantaloups from horizon to horizon in Imperial Valley 192 

Growth and bearing of watermelons on moist riverside lands 193 

A field of peas for canning near Los Angeles with pickers in the distance 224 

A glimpse at the heart of a California pepper plant 225 

Potatoes in the Los Molinos region of Tehama County 256 

New settler's outfit and rhubarb field near Marysville 257 

Field squash in Arroyo Grande Valley, San Luis Obispo County 288 

Fruiting of California tomato plant disclosed by clipping away foliage 289 



[IV] 



CONTENTS 



I. Vegetable Growing in California 7 

II. Farmer's Gardens in California 16 

III. California's Climate as Related to Vegetable Growing. . . 22 

IV. Vegetable Soils of California 32 

V. Garden Irrigation 39 

VI. Garden Drainage 61 

VII. Cultivation 66 

VIII. Fertilization 76 

IX. Garden Location and Arrangement 85 

X. The Planting Season 92 

XL Propagation and Planting 106 

XII. Artichokes 120 

XIII. Asparagus 125 

XIV. Beans 133 

XV. Beet 149 

XVI. Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale, Etc 159 

XVII. Carrot, Parsnip and Salsify 172 

XVIIL Celery 177 

XIX. Chicory and Endive 184 

XX. Corn" 187 

XXI. Cucumber 194 

XXII. Egg Plant 197 

XXIII. Lettuce 199 

XXIV. Melons : Cantaloup and Watermelon 206 

XXV. Onion, Leek, Garlic, Etc 217 

XXVI. Peas 229 

XXVII. Peppers 234 

XXVIII. Potatoes 239 

XXIX. Radishes 253 

XXX. Rhubarb 256 

XXXI. Spinach 260 

XXXII. Squashes 262 

XXXIII. Tomato 265 

XXXIV. Turnip 274 

XXXV. Vegetable Sundries 276 

XXXVI. Vegetabes for Canning and Drying 283 

> XXXVII. Seed Growing in California 292 

XXXVIII. Garden Protection 298 

XXXIX. Weeds in California 313 

Index 315 



[V] 



CHAPTER I. 

VEGETABLE GROWING IN 
CALIFORNIA. 

Though California enjoys world-wide fame for fruits it is an 
interesting fact that the state first won horticultural recognition 
upon achievements in vegetable growing. Garden seeds were more 
easily transported than trees and formed a part of the scant bag- 
gage of many gold-seekers. Seeds were also freely sent by home 
friends or quickly obtained on orders to eastern dealers as soon as 
the agriculturists among the argonauts saw their opportunity in the 
fabulous rates which esculents commanded. Results, too, were more 
quickly secured with garden seeds than with fruit trees. Only a 
few weeks after their planting the grower saw that he was dealing 
with forcing and developing agencies in climate and soil more 
effective than any he had known in his old home and he was quite 
as surprised at his own achievements as his eastern friends were 
incredulous at his descriptions of them. They were ready to believe 
anything about gold, because their conception of a gold country in- 
volved its traditional right to be fabulous, but such a concession was 
not to be made to comnion vegetables. Eastern people knew cab- 
bages and beans and to attribute to them colossal dimensions and to 
allege that they grew from seed to succotash without a drop of rain 
was simply coarse lying. It is easy to see why a milder word would 
be considered inadequate, for the following was one of California's 
first horticultural proclamations : 

On land owned and cultivated by Mr. James Williams, of Santa Cruz, an 
onion grew to the enormous weight of twenty-one pounds, and a turnip was 
grown which equaled exactly in size the top of a flour barrel. On land owned 
and cultivated bj'^ Thomas Fallen, a cabbage grew which measured, while 
growing, thirteen feet and six inches around its body. The weight is not 
known. A beet grown by Mr. Isaac Brannan, at San Jose, weighed sixty-three 
pounds ; carrots three feet in length, weighed forty pounds. At Stockton a 
turnip weighed one hundred pounds, and at a dinner for twelve persons, of a 
single potato, larger than the size of an ordinary hat, all partook, leaving at 
least the half untouched.' 

These statements are vouched for by twelve persons whose 
names are given. To save the respect of their eastern friends and 
at the same time to loyally make known the horticultural glory of 
the land they had found, the early vegetable growers had recourse 
to public exhibitions. The first was held in the fall of 1851 in San 
Francisco. The exhibits did not quite equal the verdict of the hor- 
ticultural jury cited above but they were notable, e.g.: a red beet 

1 Rep. of the Com. of Patents for 1851: Part II, p. 4. 

[7] 



8 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

from San Jose, twenty-eight inches in circumference, weight forty- 
seven pounds ; beets two months from seed in San Francisco, six and 
seven pounds; cabbage from Mission San Jose seven feet in cir- 
cumference, weight fifty-six pounds ; cucumbers eighteen inches in 
length ; onions five, six and seven inches in diameter from a product 
of nearly seventy thousand pounds to the acre ; potatoes from Santa 
Cruz, one hundred and twenty-five pounds from the five vines of a 
single hill and one potato from Santa Clara thirteen inches in length, 
weighing seven and a quarter pounds ; pumpkins and squashes from 
one hundred to one hundred and forty pounds each. 

The demonstrations furnished by such public exhibitions, of 
which there were several in the early years of San Francisco, were 
accepted at the East, and even such conservative experts as the late 
Dr. Warder of Ohio were led to exclaim, as early as 1852, "truly 
this is a wonderful country," '' To fully appreciate the significance 
of the facts it must be remembered that the varieties were those of 
nearly half a century ago and the culture was wholly lacking in the 
intensive arts which are common property of vegetable growers of 
the present day. The immensity of the specimens and of the crop, 
wonderful to the grower and incredible to the distant hearer, was 
simply the exponent of the capacity of a virgin soil, in which fer- 
tility had been accumulating for ages, and the forcing power of a 
climate wholly new to Americans. In later years California has sur- 
passed even these early standards through the employment of higher 
horticultural skill, as will be described presently, but it was upon 
the achievements of the vegetable growers at the very beginning of 
the American occupation that CaHfornia's horticultural reputation 
was established. 

How the Pioneers Prospered by Vegetable Growing. — It would 
be easy to collect quite a volume of interesting instances of how 
success was attained in the early days, but a single experience must 
suffice. It illustrates both the resources of the pioneers and the 
country which they found. G. G. Briggs left New York state in 
April, 1849, and arrived in California in October of the same year, 
driving an ox team and walking most of the way. He says : 

When I arrived in California I saw at once that there were other means 
of accumulating gold besides digging it from the mines ; that miners and all 
classes would need turnips and cabbage and other products of the soil; that 
even then many were suffering with scurvy and other diseases for the want of 
fresh vegetable food. The large crops of native grapes on the banks of the 
Sacramento were proof of the productive capacity of the California soil and 
climate. Reaching Sacramento, our party of four had no money and no prop- 
erty but our wagon and three yoke of oxen. I could find no work whatever. 
I got trusted by a storekeeper for a sack of walnuts and sold them to passers 
by the teacupfull and in five days cleared fifty dollars. We sold our oxen and 
with my part of the money I went to San Francisco to buy garden seeds with 
which to start vegetable growing on a piece of land I had seen previously in 
the bottom of the Yuba river, near the present site of Marysville. As it was 
too early in the season to plant, I bought a whale-boat and began freighting 

» Western Hort. Review, Feb., 1852. 



VEGETABLES AT THE MISSIONS V 

goods; and by spring I had accumulated about three thousand dollars. The 
last load freighted by me included a ton of potatoes, which cost me forty cents 
a pound. My seeds and potatoes were planted in March, 1851, and everything 
was doing well until cut to the ground by frost on April 19. My potatoes, 
however, came up again and made a fair crop. I was not to be cheated out 
of my vegetable crop, and started out again to buy seeds, but could find none, 
either in Sacramento or in San Francisco. Returning to Sacramento, I 
chanced upon some watermelon seeds on the boat, and bought the lot for 
twenty dollars. With these I planted five acres, and cleaned up about five 
thousand dollars for one summer's work. The next year I planted about 
twenty-six acres of watermelons, and in the fall I found I had twenty thou- 
sand dollars for my summer's work.^ 

With the money Mr. Briggs returned to New York for his 
family and brought also, on his return, some fruit trees, and laid the 
foundation of his subsequent brilliant record as a pioneer fruit 
grower. Others followed about the same course and thus vegetable 
growing became not only the basis of California's horticultural 
reputation but actually furnished the capital for the ventures which 
demonstrated the possibility of our great fruit industries. 

Vegetables at the Missions and the Ranchos. — The American 
pioneers found little at the establishments of the old regime that 
was instructive or even suggestive. In fact, the Spanish conception 
of the agricultural capacity and adaptability of the country was not 
only inadequate ; it was erroneous as well. Though the missions 
had gardens, they were almost destitute of gardening as we under- 
stand the term and whether the Spanish and Mexican settlers were 
deterred from vegetable growing by their distaste for any physical 
exertion, away from the saddle, or by their ignorance of the fitness 
of the country, is not a question of much importance in this con- 
nection. Hittell says : "Gardening was not attempted except on a 
very small scale and only for such vegetables as could be produced 
with very little labor. . . . Potatoes and turnips were rare and 
of garden vegetables in general it my be said that until the advent 
of foreign settlers they were scarcely cultivated." * Bryant, who 
visited California in 1846 and examined the Los Angeles gardens, 
saw only onions, potatoes, red peppers and beans and added that he 
believed other vegetables would grow as well as they. 

Illustrating the inability of the rancheros to understand the 
wide applicability of the simple horticultural lessons given at the 
missions, it is related that at the time of the American settlement 
most of the Spanish families living in different parts of Alameda 
and Contra Costa had their garden patches near the Mission San 
Jose. They knew fruit and vegetables would grow there, because 
they had seen them in the mission gardens and they did not know 
they would grow elsewhere and had not taken the trouble to find 
out. Thus the Estudillos of San Leandro had their garden patch at 



' Condensed from narrative of G. G. Briggs, in Rep. State Ag'l Soc. 1881. Another ac- 
count (Rep. 1858) says this watermelon crop was grown by Mr. Briggs with the aid of two 
men. 

«Hist. of California, Vol. II, p. 474. 



10 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the Mission San Jose and transported their vegetables fifteen or 
twenty miles, while right outside the door of their house at San 
Leandro was the finest garden soil in the world, and they did not 
know it ! ' 

Neither the mission gardeners nor their rancheros had any idea 
of the capacity of the country for summer crops without irrigation 
and without any adequate conception of the offices of cultivation 
they could hardly have attained it. Hence, not having the irrigation 
facilities which were developed at the missions, and not being in- 
clined to any labor by which their own lands could be irrigated, 
they would naturally go to the water rather than attempt to bring 
the water to their land for anything more than stock and domestic 
uses. Almost at sight the American pioneer horticulturists dis- 
cerned possibilities and adaptations in the soil and climate which 
their predecessors had not discovered during seventy-five years of 
occupation. The relations of race to horticultural progress are very 
interesting. 

Vicissitudes of Early Vegetable Grozving. — Those who first dis- 
cerned the fact that it was easier to get gold with the hoe than with 
the pick, realized market prices as surprisingly great as the vege- 
tables they grew. John M. Horner, of Alameda County, is reported 
to have cleared about $150,000 from his large venture of eight hun- 
dred acres in vegetable growing in 1851, and others gained much 
more per acre than he, with smaller operations which did not re- 
quire so much high-priced labor. But the demonstration of their 
success proved its destruction. Plantations were made out of all 
proportion to requirements and disastrous overproduction speedily 
ensued. The second year after the exhibition in San Francisco, to 
which allusion has been made, there was a collapse. The following 
account of potato growing shows how sharp was the turn of affairs : 

In 1852 Beard & Horner's potato crop at Alvarado averaged 200 sacks 
(about twelve tons) to the acre, and sold for upwards of $100,000. The fol- 
lowing \'ear everybody cultivated them. In Pajaro valley 20,000 sacks were 
one day bet on a horse-race. Beard & Horner contracted theirs in advance 
at two and a half cents a pound to San Francisco merchants. Garrison took 
one million pounds, which were never removed, but were allowed to rot on 
the ground. Saunders & Co. purchased a large quantity, which they stowed 
away in a hulk in the bay. As warm weather came on the potatoes com- 
menced growing and threatened to burst the vessel open. They commenced 
dumping the potatoes into the bay, but the harbor master stopped it, and the 
owners had to pay for their removal to another locality.* 

With the first disaster the charm and spirit of pioneer vege- 
table growing passed away. There was, of course, quick recovery 
in values and very profitable business done, but it was not the same 
grand afifair and it did not accord with the adventurous spirit of 
the day. Small growers near the cities and the mining camps did 
well, but there was not dash enough about market gardening for 



" Interview with Hon. J. L. Beard, in Oakland Enquirer, May IS, 1897. 
• Centennial Year Book of Alameda County, p. 483. 



THE CHANCE FOR AMERICANS 11 

Americans and it was soon given over to immigrants from the south 
of Europe and China and has never been recovered. Field growth 
of staple vegetables on a large scale has been continued by Amer- 
icans, but even in this line he has often been obliged to withdraw 
from competition with Chinese, Portuguese and Italians with their 
cheaper labor supply and living expenses. Great enterprises in live 
stock, wheat, wool and fruit afforded opportunities more to the 
American taste than vegetable growing. The American settler had 
incomparably more energy and industrial ambition than his prede- 
cessors, the Mexicans, but he shared with them a liking for doing 
his work in the saddle or on the seat of a riding plow, cultivator or 
harvester. Within a decade from the date of the American demon- 
stration of the unique fitness of California for vegetable growing 
there arose occasion for frequent exhortations to California farm- 
ers to restore the garden to its proper place in farm plan and policy, 
and yet California farmers neglected to supply their own tables and 
the proper adornment of their house yards until the ranch home in 
this land of beauty and grand horticultural opportunities became a 
by-word for unthrift and desolation. Some aspects of this matter 
will be presented in a following chapter. 

Competition with Foreigners. — One of the difficulties of the 
present situation is that while the American-born Californian has 
decried vegetable growing, the immigrants from southern Europe, 
China and Japan have strongly entrenched themselves in it. Now 
the competition which the American grower has to encounter is 
depressing and discouraging. And yet the situation is not at all 
hopeless. The foreigners are not, as a rule, progressive. They are 
frugal and industrious to an extreme and they undertake a great 
deal to please their customers with variety as well as low prices. 
In some points the American competitor can learn from them to 
advantage. But it is quite easy to surpass them in quality by con- 
stant effort for improved varieties, which they are slow to introduce, 
and to cheapen production by the use of horse labor and improved 
tools, while they plod along with hand methods and appHances — 
although it is only fair to admit that the Japanese are more progres- 
sive and ambitious of leadership and proprietorship and therefore 
more formidable rivals. However, if the California farmer should 
put forth the same effort to adapt conditions to ends and to keep 
himself at the very front in materials and arts of production in the 
growing and selling of vegetables that he has employed in the grow- 
ing and selling of fruit, we should hear far less of the superiority 
of the foreigner in the vegetable garden. 

There have arisen during the last few years quite notable in- 
stances of the truth of this claim, and almost everywhere in the 
vicinity of towns some market gardens by Americans can be found. 
The situation is well portrayed in the following paragraph from an 



12 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

address at a Farmers' Institute by S. J. Murdock, one of the most 
successful early vegetable growers of southern California: 

The business of growing vegetables has grown step by step, until at 
present it is a great industry, mostly in the hands of Asiatics. Yet in some 
places white men are getting a share of the trade, and if they would combine 
and exchange vegetables, as the Chinamen do, they would soon have the bulk 
of the business. The people of California know no seasons for the different 
vegetables, as they do at the East. They demand beets, lettuce, onions, tur- 
nips, radishes and cabbage the year round, and they want asparagus, peas, 
parsnips, salsify and cauliflower nearly all the time. White men should com- 
bine and exchange different kinds, for one man can hardly succeed in having 
all varieties in the proper quantities, as different soils and locations produce 
different results. But the average Californian does not take kindly to the 
business. He considers it "puttering" work. Yet it is far ahead of wheat 
raising. It takes study, and lots of it, to keep abreast of the times, for we 
cannot raise the vegetables of ten or twenty years ago and make a success of 
the business. There has been as great improvement in vegetables as in other 
things. There is scarcely a region in southern California where an indus- 
trious, energetic man could not work up a trade along this line. He should 
not expect to make a fortune in a few years, but after the first few months 
he would have a steady income, increasing from time to time, as he learned 
the wants of his customers and catered to them. 

Recent Achievements in Vegetable Growing. — Although Cali- 
fornia horticulturists as a class are charged with neglect of vege- 
table growing, prizes awarded to California growers by eastern 
seedsmen in competitions open to the whole country show indisput- 
ably the eminence of California, and are the more valuable because 
the weights are certified by the judges in these contests. From our 
records in this line we select a few, as follows : 

Varieties Weight 

Silver King Onion, single specimen 4 lbs. 9 oz. 

Jumbo Mangel " " 91 lbs. 

Imp. Sugar Beet " " 35^ lbs. 

Wethersfield Onion, yield acre 66,905 lbs. 

Jumbo Mangel, single specimen 39 lbs. 

Prizetaker Onion " " 6 lbs. 2 oz. 

Jumbo Watermelon " " 131^ lbs. 

Prizetaker Onion, yield 1 oz. seed 8384 lbs. 

Silver Skin Onion, largest 4 lbs. 2 oz. 

Mammoth Pompeii Onion 4 lbs. 8 oz. 

Red Victoria Onion 4 lbs. 12 oz. 

Giant Intermediate Mangel 32 lbs. 

Burpee's Bush Lima Bean, 1 plant 323 pods 

White Victoria Onion 5 lbs. 6>^ oz. 

Great Divide Potatoes, from 1 lb 542 lbs. 

Gibraltar Onion 1 lb. 15 oz. 

Genuine Mammoth Pumpkin 187 lbs. 

Henderson Bush Lima Bean, 1 plant 294 pods 

Marblehead Mammoth Cabbage 81 lbs. 

Warren Cabbage 77 lbs. 

Vegetables for Distant Shipment. — A new phase of the vege- 
table-growing industry of the state arose with the openings of the 
overland railways, but it developed very slowly and it was at first 
marked by great uncertainty in values, causing losses as notable as 
profits to those in the shipping trade. The railway freight rate has 



SHIPPING, CANNING AND DRYING 13 

been the ruling factor, though the destruction of eastern crops 
through unfavorable weather conditions has sometimes opened op- 
portunities for shipment from California in spite of charges which 
were at other times prohibitory. The eastern demand for some 
kinds of vegetables has, however, led to the production of several 
important vegetable crops in very large volume and has thus given 
us specialty farming in vegetable lines somewhat comparable with 
our great fruit specialties. When this has occurred vegetable grow- 
ing has seemed worthy of American effort and our people have been 
proud to undertake production by the car-load or train-load of the 
very crops which they would scorn to think of growing by the 
wagon-load. The features of this line of production will appear in 
connection with the discussion of the special kinds of vegetables 
which are involved in it. 

An idea of the importance of vegetable growing for distant 
sale can be had from the following records of railway shipments of 
fresh vegetables beyond state lines, in tons of 2000 pounds : 

1910 78,829 1914 247,512 

1911 130,728 1915 331,941 

1912 129,659 1916 351,265 

1913. 147,277 

In addition to the foregoing there are considerable shipments 
by sea from the port of San Francisco to Pacific countries — a 
movement likely to be largely increased by the operation of the 
Panama Canal. 

Vegetable growing for distant shipment is quite different from 
home or truck gardening. The grower for shipment is a specialist; 
he grows but few kinds, and often one kind only, and it becomes 
necessary for him to study the particular kind he raises in all its 
forms, not only as to selection of variety, but to obtain the very 
best strain of that variety. He also has to study very closely the 
most economical methods of planting, cultivation, harvesting and 
marketing. Local soil, moisture and weather conditions determine 
what crop to raise. Though we can raise desirable vegetables at 
some time of the year in the same locality for home use or local sale, 
the point to consider for shipment is to raise that vegetable which 
brings the best crop at the right time for shipment. 

Canned and Dried Vegetables. — Another form in which our 
vegetables are reaching distant markets in considerable quantities 
is the product of the canneries, of which estimates are chiefly based 
upon the records of Howard C. Rowley, editor of California Fruit 
News, the figures being numbers of cases, each containing two 
dozen 2^/2- and 3-pound cans, or the equivalent in gallon cans : 

1913 

Asparagus 723,000 

Beans 90,190 

Peas 93,870 

Tomatoes 1,146,560 

Other Vegetables. 138,710 
Total cases... 2,192,330 



1914 


1915 


1916 


768,800 


799,480 


990,740 


77,065 


81,905 


123,475 


162,195 


188,667 


227,120 


1,893,650 


1,182,705 


2,647,300 


126.635 


119,525 


236,525 


3,028,345 


2,372,282 


4,225,160 



14 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The group "other vegetables" includes about 25,000 cases each 
of spinach and squash, 10,000 of pumpkin and 5000 of kraut. 

Thus it appears that the product has doubled in four years. A 
discussion of vegetables from a canner's point of view will be given 
in a subsequent chapter. 

Drying vegetables has been pursued in a small way for a num- 
ber of years, and was stimulated to great expectations when the 
Alaska mining interest arose and packing food over mountain trails 
was involved, but wherever transportation routes are established 
the superior succulence of fresh and canned vegetables discounts 
the dried product and the latter has not reached great commercial 
importance. 

Value of California Vegetable Products. — The latest authori- 
tative figures of the acreage and value of the products included in 
this treatise are those of the U. S. Census of 1909, which are now 
wholly inadequate. The latest records in the case of individual 
crops will be given, so far as available, in the chapters severally de- 
voted to them. For a general citation of values, figures are drawn 
chiefly from the estimates of the California Development Board as 
published in its report for 1917, viz: 

Sugar beet $ 7,500,000 

Potatoes 14,805,000 

Potatoes, sweet 960,000 

Beans 20,875,000 

Onions 4,000,000 

Melons 4,000,000 

Seeds, etc 3,000,000 

Fresh vegetables 12,000,000 

Total $67,140,000 

Diversity in Garden Practice in California. — It is hardly too 
much to say that California garden practice is an epitome of ancient 
and modern cultural arts, for we have both survival of very old 
methods and subterfuges and wider demonstrations of the truth of 
advanced conceptions of cultural efficacy than can probably be 
found in any other state. This is not due to any purpose or design 
on the part of our people. It is merely their notable resources of 
adaptability and ingenuity brought to bear upon the wide range of 
conditions involved in our combined winter and summer gardening 
which concentrates in a single commonwealth all the diversity one 
might encounter if he were a peripatetic gardener with an itinerary 
extending from Ireland to Algeria. Nor is this remark intended 
merely as a reference to the natural diversity of the different parts 
of the state, because success may require more or less distinct 
methods in summer and winter in the same region. In short, the 
California gardener has to know arid-land practice and humid-land 
practice and call them both into requisition equally or incline toward 



CALIFORNIA REQUIREMENTS 15 

one or the other as his conditions demand. It takes a man of some 
depth and breadth to do this and this is the reason why land owners 
who have brought skilled horticultural practitioners from abroad to 
develop their properties have experienced so many disappointments. 
It requires head as well as handicraft to master the situation, as 
subsequent chapters will suggest. 



CHAPTER II. 
FARMER'S GARDENS IN CALIFORNIA. 

It has already been admitted that there has been, ever since 
the development of large farming enterprises was seen to be pos- 
sible in California, an indisposition on the part of our farmers to 
engage in vegetable growing. Several reasons are urged as ex- 
planatory of this very widespread sentiment and some of them may 
be cited : 

First: The proper conduct of a large specialty farm gives no 
time for gardening — not even for the direction of work upon it — 
and it is better to buy vegetables than incur the worry of a garden 
patch. 

Second : In small specialty farming on a limited acreage of 
especially fitted and high-priced land, it is not profitable to set apart 
land for vegetables when its yield in the special product may pay 
several times the cost of purchased vegetables. 

Third: Success with vegetables in California is very difficult 
to attain — especially so in certain parts of the state — and a farmer 
is more apt to lose than to gain by any venture he may make in 
that line. 

Fourth: It is impossible to have a garden without irrigation 
water, even on lands which with ordinary rainfall will yield cereals 
and carry productive deciduous fruit trees if they are given good 
summer cultivation. 

Hoiv Far Are the Objections Tenable? — It must be granted 
that there is some force in the demurrer which the California 
farmer often enters against his indictment for lack of thrift and 
neglect of opportunities in not undertaking to produce his home 
supply of fresh, crisp and wholesome vegetables instead of depend- 
ing upon the stale and wilted goods of the itinerant vendors. It is 
perfectly conceivable that, under certain conditions, the farmer had 
better buy food supplies rather than produce them, consequently the 
general denunciation of the unthrift of the California farmer, which 
is often indulged in by those who know little of the local situation 
and conditions, is really unwarranted. California conditions, both in 
nature and in farm policy, are so varied that criticisms and upbraid- 
ings are often misplaced. And yet it is perfectly true that vege- 
tables should be grown on farms in California much more gener- 
ally and in far greater variety than they have been hitherto. It is 
not the intention of the writer to urge this improvement upon senti- 
mental considerations nor to claim, as many seem inclined to do, 
[16] 



WILL, WATER AND WORK ESSENTIAL 17 

that it is possible to compass it by the fiat method. Too many of 
our critics seem to hold that all the farmer has to do is to declare 
that there shall be a garden and one will spring up around his foot- 
steps with ideal succulence, richness and deliciousness. It will be 
better to attempt to show that there is an opportunity, providing its 
requirements be duly met, and that there are really fewer difficul- 
ties in the way and greater rewards for prompt and intelligent effort 
than many of our farmers imagine. And this can be shown with- 
out elaborate arguments. A more striking demonstration will prob- 
ably lie in showing to the many the success of the few, in order that 
they may draw therefrom lessons and exhortations for their own 
incitement and success. This service will be constantly held in view 
as this work proceeds. 

Essentials to Success in Gardening. — There are three requisites 
to success in gardening and they may be arranged in alliteration 
thus, Will, Water, Work. They also stand in the order of their 
relative importance in California. Without a strong impulse in the 
will it is vain to expect work and water to do their best. If the 
will is born of taste, liking, enthusiasm, the task will be delightful 
and the results grand in every way. Unless one has some joy in 
the rich, moist earth as it yields its fragrance to the touch of his 
tools ; unless he can glory in the quick, responsive growth of the 
plant when his culture suits its nature, and unless he find pride and 
satisfaction in the armful of delicious vegetables which he brings 
each day to his helpmeet, with the dewdrops of the early morning 
still sparkling upon their foliage, his gardening will never be an easy 
task though it may be conscientiously and successfully discharged. 

But although it is possible to make a good and profitable gar- 
den from a sense of duty and though work will reach its due reward 
even though one can never bring himself to see that the "primal 
curse" of the race is really its opportunity, it is a fact that without 
work there can be no successful gardening in California. Perhaps 
work is the price of success everywhere ; perhaps the aggregate of 
muscular effort proportional to the result is less in California than 
elsewhere, but let no one deceive himself that the California gar- 
den will make itself. The item of work may be reduced to a min- 
mum by intelligent direction. Insight and observation will teach 
just when each act should be performed to secure the richest co- 
operative response from nature's forces, and to miss this advantage 
will entail a vast amount of unnecessary effort, but the modicum 
of incisive action must be bestowed. It will appear later, in con- 
nection with the discussion of the planting season, that timely work 
is a prime factor — in fact, the pivot upon which the effort may turn 
from delight to disappointment. California conditions, though ex- 
ceedingly generous, are equally exacting — probably more exacting 
than those of humid climates. It is clear, then, that not only is work 
essential, but it must be work well directed and maintained. 



18 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The third essential is water. By due understanding and em- 
ployment of the characters of the natural growing season and of 
the soil in each locality, it is possible to produce a great wealth and 
variety of vegetables in most parts of the state without irrigation. 
In some parts succession or rotation can be carried through the 
year by the most intelligent cultivation to prevent evaporation or 
by the use of land naturally and continuously moistened by under- 
flow. Still, the far greater area of the state will not give satisfac- 
tory vegetable supply without additions to rainfall and the irrigated 
garden should therefore be the end in view in most of our farm 
planning. Fortunately this is not nearly so difficult to attain as is 
commonly thought, as will be shown in a later chapter, and if the 
farm-architect have the will to work, he will not long lack the water 
to insure the perfection of his desires in his home garden. 

Possible Exceptions. — These faint suggestions of the require- 
ments of success in gardening, even on the narrow, farm plan, may 
intimate that broadside exhortations to vegetable growing are not 
wise and they may also shed some light upon the reasonableness of 
those who claim that they cannot profitably or successfully under- 
take it. Our great specialty farmers are apt to have their heads and 
hands too full to think of personally mastering gardening practice 
in a peculiar country. The attempts which have been made to trans- 
form the ordinary farm hand into a gardener have usually only 
yielded disappointment, and the professional gardeners who are 
really worthy of the name find it too easy to acquire enterprises of 
their own to warrant their wage-earning on the farm basis. It 
might as well be conceded at once that many large farmers will do 
better to purchase their supply from some man who has the knowl- 
edge and the soil and water facilities for successful production. 

It is also true that in many cases the small scale specialty 
farmer, working a small tract of high-priced land for a high-value 
product, does well to plant his entire holding, except his house site, 
to this product. But it is also true that other men of this class will 
find the reservation of a garden area a most profitable proceeding. 
What each shall do depends upon his personal traits and tastes. 

But though these exceptions exist and should be considered in 
any claims that are made in favor of much wider enlistment of 
California farmers in gardening for the production, at least, of 
home supplies, the fact remains that farm gardens should be multi- 
plied and that, with proper spirit and efifort and appreciation of their 
value, they can be more easily secured than the popular impression 
among California farmers would indicate. There is a wealth of ex- 
perience to show where good timely work is done, under conditions 
either naturally favorable or rendered favorable by moderate effort 
or investment, very gratifying results have been attained on farms 
in all parts of California. 

Benefits of Farm Gardens. — It is trite to build arguments on 
this theme, but the points can hardly be sharpened by comment. 



BENEFITS OF VEGETABLE GROWING 19 

The dietetic benefit of vegetable food in variety has been demon- 
strated both by individual experience and by the food studies which 
are now being systematically pursued both in this country and 
Europe. Working force, thinking force, the quality of success in 
all lines of human effort, are all promoted by a generous, well-bal- 
anced food supply. 

The hygienic benefit of food, including due amount of the suc- 
culent, aromatic, tonic and assimilable characters which are inherent 
in fresh and well-grown vegetables, is universally recognized by 
authorities. The truth has particular force in a region of high tem- 
peratures like California. The so-called cooling of the blood, the 
development of resistance to malaria, the free and healthful opera- 
tion of the various functions of the body, are unquestionably pro- 
moted by vegetable food. 

The economic benefit of home-grown esculents has been most 
clearly discerned during the last few years and the result is a grati- 
fying increase of interest in farm gardening. More vegetables have 
been grown recently on California farms than ever before. The 
low market values of some of our most important special products 
have given an impetus to diversification of crops which a century 
of exhortation could not have compassed. California farmers have 
recognized as never before that sound farm policy generally requires 
the home production of most food supplies. Those who have en- 
dured with least hardship financial stress of beginning a farm enter- 
prise are those who have had least to buy and not those who had 
most to sell. Many a farm has been saved from the mortgagee by 
the yield of subsidiary products for home use and for exchange for 
essential home supplies. In this most important service the vege- 
table garden has done its full share and has thus commended itself 
to the attention of many who formerly looked upon the growth of 
"garden sass" as a sort of ignoble pothering. The farm garden 
saves money and makes money if it is given adequate thought and 
generous effort. 

This exhortation can be given forceful concreteness by the fol- 
lowing actual instance which occurred in one of our warmer coast 
valleys : 

"My garden consists of one acre of good river bottom land, and as a mat- 
ter of course is under good tilth. Besides what we used at home and gave 
away, we sold to our neighbors as follows : 

Green onions $16.00 Cauliflower $7.00 

Spinach 4.00 Green corn 10.50 

Early cabbage 12.00 Squashes 8.00 

Lettuce 2.25 Tomatoes 18.00 

Beets 3.00 

Turnips 4.00 Total $84.75 

"What can be more profitable ? Any farmer can do as well if he will only 
try. How did we do it? I will tell you. Early in November we planted top 
onions on one-half acre, and on the other half we planted spinach, beets, let- 
tuce, turnips, and carrots. Our seed beds were made in December, and as 
soon as the onions were ready to pull we replaced them with cabbages, pulling 



20 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

our onions with regard to such planting, also making room for a succession 
of early peas and snap beans, and finally cucumbers. Of the last three articles 
we sold a good quantity, and the product will raise the total amount produced 
for the season to over $100." 

This is not an isolated instance. Anyone can do it who can 
command the "essentials to success" previously considered, and 
almost anyone can utterly fail of doing it without them. A hint is 
given of the succession of crops possible in the California garden. 
There will be much of that hereafter, and it will also appear that 
making seed beds for winter-growing vegetables in December is 
altogether too late. Many vegetables should be edible by that time, 
from a beginning in August and September. 

The social benefit of the farm garden may enter the realm of 
sentiment but it is none the less true, potent and precious. The 
farm with a garden is an inexpressibly better home than without it. 
The garden wins interest ; it dispenses content. It awakens home 
pride and strengthens home love. It has actual educational value 
in that it directly imparts useful lessons in plant growth and re- 
quirements which are applicable to all other farm operations. It 
has lessons also to quicken the love of the beautiful which, in turn, 
leads in all phases of home improvement and lifts the standard of 
rural manhood and womanhood. 

Of Especial Applicability to California. — All these benefits of 
the installation of a garden area on the farm should be especially 
striven for in California because they can be realized here in excep- 
tional measure. The well-planned California garden is evergreen. 
It admits of succession and rotation within the year, so that a 
twelve month is the producing equivalent of twice or thrice its dura- 
tion in wintry climates. Here the garden does not insist upon in- 
truding its claims just in the "rush of spring work" which is known 
in lands of more marked seasonal transitions. It is well content to 
be "ahead of the rush" the whole year round, but it must be ad- 
mitted that it stubbornly rebels against being behind it. Not only 
is succession of tender growths made possible by the long frostless 
term, but more than half of the common garden vegetables are so 
hardy that they maintain growth even through our short frosty sea- 
son and, with irrigation on lands which need it, thrive the whole 
year in the open air. Rich is the endowment which a semi-tropical 
climate bestows upon the gardener. He who does not avail himself 
of it for his own comfort and profit buries his talent into the earth. 

The Garden in Mixed Farming. — During the last few years, 
aside from the greater interest in vegetable growing on the part of 
the settlers, which has been noted, there has been a decided gain 
through the efforts of newer residents to make their smaller hold- 
ings self-supplying and income-yielding, as well, by due attention to 
vegetable growing. All through the state, but especially in south- 
ern California, the interest has quickened and the accomplishment 
has shown that the old idea that only special, narrow areas were 



THE HOME GARDEN A BLESSING 21 

suited to garden locations was a misconception. Instances are ample 
to show not only that proper practice brings ample success almost 
everywhere, but such practice, coupled with intelligent planning, 
yields such variety of delicious esculents as only a semi-tropical 
climate allows. This is one of the distinctive advantages of Cali- 
fornia and it favors the development of small farms of mixed hus- 
bandry as well as those devoted to specialties. Of course there are 
limitations and locations should be selected with discrimination for 
either mixed or special farming. The mixed farm in an ever-grow- 
ing climate makes requirements it is true, but it also bestows com- 
pensations. As the forces ministering to growth are continuously 
active, the full use of them bespeaks corresponding activity on the 
part of man. There must be a determination to make almost every 
moment tell in some useful effort. There will be play for the sharp- 
est ingenuity in devising means and methods for time-saving and 
ceaseless study to make the soil bear the burden of the table to the 
fullest degree. Small farming requires genius, devotion, and a spirit 
of content. Its work, when one acquires or is born with a liking 
for it, is full of cheer and enjoyment. Its varied nature is itself a 
charm. The trees, vines, plants, and domestic animals will rise 
almost to the plane of companionship. Man, wife and children will 
join in the spirit of the enterprise they are carrying on with united 
heart and hand, and love for home will grow and blossom forth as 
it seldom does in mansions or on princely estates. Thus the modest 
calling has its compensations. 

The influence of such home upon the state is most salutary. 
Sound ideas of economy become prevalent ; honor and honesty are 
qualities which win popular approval. Thus, the state becomes 
really prosperous and sound at the core. The crowning need of 
California agriculture is to build up enterprises which will stand 
alone. We have been leaning too long on the shoulders of bankers 
and commission merchants and commanders of country stores. 
Without them it is true much that has been done could not have 
been accomplished, but it is also true that many losing efforts which 
have been vainly put forth would never have been attempted, and 
those who have made these efforts would be the better for it. Who 
can tell how many would have attained moderate and comfortable 
successes if they had started without encumbrance on a modest plan 
instead of wasting time with big schemes whose whole returns have 
gone to feed hungry mortgages and interest accounts, until failure 
has swept from them the property which they proudly hoped to 
possess ? 

But why intrude this homily? The garden is one of the ele- 
ments of success in mixed farming. Around it other elements 
naturally gather. As gleaners and profitable transformers of gar- 
den wastes and surpluses into home supplies and garden restoratives, 
the cow, the pig, and the hen await outside the garden fence. Be 
sure to keep them there, and the garden will be a liberal contributor 
to their vigor and productiveness. 



CHAPTER III. 

CALIFORNIA'S CLIMATE AS RELATED 
TO VEGETABLE GROWING. 

It is not necessary to attempt an elaborate exposition of the 
characters of the Cahfornia chmate. Such characterization has 
been made by different authorities from various points of view.* 
It may be claimed in a general way that our climates are as kindly 
disposed toward vegetable growth as they are toward the develop- 
ment of fruits or the early maturity, thrift and comfort of animals. 
The ordinary exemption from ground-freezing at any time of the 
year; the absence or very rare and localized occurrence of soil-shift- 
ing winds or even of winds to prostrate tall growths ; freedom from 
wide extremes in temperature ; and only occasionally great changes 
in atmospheric humidity ; adequate heat for rapid growth with a 
dry, but seldom desiccating air, which prevents much of the fungous 
growth of hot, humid climates and consequently insures a grand and 
healthy leaf-action to the plant ; abundant sunshine, but seldom, and 
then only in few localities, rising to leaf burning; ample moisture 
either by rainfall or irrigation, or one supplementing the other — all 
these characters and others like them, constitute a climate of excep- 
tional advantage to the vegetable grower. They reduce provisions 
for protection to a minimum ; a cloud of smoke for the frost ; a high 
fence or a line of trees for the wind, a lath or slight brush covering 
or the neighborly shadow of a taller growth for the most tender 
foliage ; frequent cultivation to retain moisture in the soil after rain 
or irrigation, and the garden will go through the year with ample 
protection at its weakest points. And all these are not needed in 
the same locality ; in fact, some localities need none of them except 
the moisture retention which is universal. 

Autumnal and Vernal Springtimes. — Spring is defined as "the 
one of the four seasons when plants begin to grow," and Califor- 
nia is fortunate in doubling the blessings of springtime which most 
parts of the world enjoy. First there is the autumnal springtime 
which follows the heat in the interior valleys, bringing a delicious 
coolness to the early morning and crystal clearness to the atmos- 
phere which reveals the distant mountain tops with a sharpness 
which their outlines do not often reveal through the haze of sum- 
mer. There is also the autumnal springtime in the coast regions, 
which brings a little higher heat because the arrest of ocean winds 
gives the declining sun opportunity to warm the earth as even the 



•Consult "California Fruits and How to Grow Them," Chapters 1 and 2, "California 
Garden Flowers," Chapter 2. 

[ 22 ] 



TWO SPRINGTIMES IN CALIFORNIA 23 

vertical sun of midsummer could not do because of the screen of 
summer fogs which the landward winds interposed. These two 
manifestations, differing in effects upon the coast and in the interior, 
are simply phases of one seasonal change and mark the approach 
of the autumnal springtime in California, the beginning of a new 
growing season, the advent of another crop-year — reminding the 
California ruralist of new duties and announcing new opportunities 
to one who understands the superlative advantage in California of 
beginning early and keeping everlastingly at it to get the most from 
the land and from his own labor. 

Of course, California has also the delights of the true vernal 
springtime, marked by the change from the short, dark days of the 
rainy season, to the more abundant light and heat of the drier 
months ; a season of blossoms and flowers and of activity of the ten- 
derer plants, when the "rare days of June" appear in the California 
March and April. Of the two California springtimes which attend 
the equinoxes, the one of September is the greater in agricultural 
and horticultural signficance laecause it is really the beginnning of 
the crop-year and because timely work then gives success with 
plants which make their returns during the winter and, besides that, 
it insures the best results with other plants which yield their re- 
wards in the dry season which lies beyond. The delicious Septem- 
ber weather with us is not, therefore, an outholding of cheer to en- 
courage one to endure an approaching winter but a foretaste of the 
delights of a rainy season which, except during actual storms, is a 
time of plowing and sowing, planting and pruning and of other fun- 
damental operations which underlie the success of the year. The 
March springtime, on the other hand, opens the way to the haste of 
haying and harvest, the distress of late plantings in high heat for 
which they have no proper rooting, unless the grower comes to 
their relief with cultivation as their needs require. The September 
springtime looks to a beginning and the March springtime to a finish 
of the year — so far as a finish can come to a year which is action 
from end to end. 

Geographical Distribution of Production. — According to the 
United States census of 1910 the plants generally classified as vege- 
tables, and which are included in this treatise, yielded value to the 
grower of half a million or more in ten California counties, as fol- 
lows : 

Alameda $ 841,885 San Joaquin $2,683,277* 

Contra Costa 1,230,155* San Luis Obispo . . 659,137 

Los Angeles 1,473,521 Santa Barbara ... . 1.114,113 

Orange 1,194,627 Santa Clara 715,730 

Sacramento 914,374* Ventura 2,773,687 

Of the foregoing counties seven are in coast valleys and three 
(marked *) are interior valley lowlands, so far as their vegetable 
products are involved. Some of them are contiguous; some of them 



24 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

five hundred miles apart. This demonstrates the breadth of Cah- 
fornia's adaptation to great commercial production of vegetables. 

LOCAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE, 

Although it is possible to grow almost all vegetables every- 
where in the state by intelligently selecting the proper time of the 
year for each, which will be shown later, and although a few locali- 
ties have climates so uniform and equable that by providing proper 
moisture conditions nearly all vegetables can be grown all the year, 
it is still possible to define regions with somewhat distinctive climatic 
characters bearing upon garden and field growth of edible plants. 

Coast Valleys. — The greatest volume of vegetable products of 
California is at present grown in the coast valleys. This term 
includes both well-defined valleys of greater or less breadth, and 
stretches of rather flat or gently sloping land, open to ocean influ- 
ences. It is a region extending the whole length of the state and 
lying between the highest elevation of the Coast Range and the 
ocean. In the upper half of the state it is composed chiefly of well- 
defined valleys somewhat parallel to the coast, but protected by low 
ranges which modify and mollify ocean influences, insuring higher 
temperature and more gentle winds than are found directly on the 
coast. In the southern part of the state the region chiefly consists 
of broad areas quite open to the ocean but needing no barriers from 
it because, owing to the trend of the coast, the lower latitude and the 
greater distance south from the source of the prevailing air currents, 
the ocean influences are themselves modified before they reach the 
lands. In all this vast region, then, similar conditions prevail, locally 
modified, however, enough to create some marked differences in 
degree, which have been well utilized as the basis of special produc- 
tion. Temperature rises and rainfall decreases as you proceed south- 
ward. And yet though these differences may notably localize pro- 
duction, the whole coast region north and south has this in common ; 
it has a more equable and lower temperature and a more generous 
rainfall than the interior valley at its own latitude ; it also has lighter 
frosts, growing lighter still toward the south until it encloses regions 
here and there which favoring topography makes practically frost- 
less. Such situations favor all-the-year growth of the tenderest 
vegetables, and perennial beans and tomato trees are possible. 

Interior Loivlands. — The region next in importance in vege- 
table production comprises the lower lands of the interior valleys. 
They lie along the two great rivers of the northern and central parts 
of California — the Sacramento and San Joaquin and their tribu- 
taries. These rivers flow from nearly two hundred miles, north and 
south of their confluence, where they mingle their waters through 
numerous sloughs until the joint streams pour through a gap in the 
coast range into San Francisco Bay. The same gap which lets out 
the waters admits the ocean current of moisture-laden wind and 
moderates the heat of the entire interior valley, but naturally dis- 



RIVER LANDS FOR VEGETABLES 25 

penses most moisture, and coolness over the lowlands which lie just 
in its course as it rushes northward and southward to displace the 
air which is rarified by the sun heat on the interior plains of the 
great valley. These interior lowlands along the lower stretches of 
the rivers have, then, an interior climate modified by the intrusion 
from the coast, but this only acts in full measure during June, July 
and August. It acts, therefore, as a moderator of heat and drought 
during that period and supplements the supply of aqueous vapor 
which rises by evaporation from the immense acreage of tule 
swamps and shallow lakes which surround the tillable lands of the 
region. Climatic conditions in this large interior area favor the 
growth of vegetables and its producing capacity is beyond any pres- 
ent commercial use which can be made of it. But though it has a 
temporary coast modification, as has been stated, it falls back into 
interior habits when restraint is removed. It has intervals of hot, 
dry winds which exclude the ocean air-currents from access to the 
valley and then intense dry heat calls for ample water supply, which, 
fortunately, however, is easily applied, because at such season the 
rivers and sloughs are running full and if seepage is not enough, 
siphons or flood-gates admit water from the high-running ii\ers, or 
pumps yield great volumes at little cost. But the interior lowlands 
have another more grievous trait. As they lie very low they are 
the scenes of the latest spring and earliest autumn frosts and their 
season for tender vegetables is shorter than that of the coast, though 
with their higher heat and copious moisture their mid-season product 
of these tender crops may out-volume a slower, longer season on 
the coast. But the earliest and the latest tender vegetables do not 
come from the interior lowlands. 

There are interior lowlands of wonderful producing capacity 
at considerable distances from the confluence of the two rivers just 
mentioned. For about three hundred miles the river lands extend 
both northward and southward, offering an area of moist or easily 
irrigated land of such fertility and extent that it suggests its own 
ability to produce vegetables for the whole country. At present 
hardly an appreciable fraction of one per cent of it is employed in 
production for which it is best fitted. In the future its lower levels 
will be the Holland and its upper extensions the Nile valley of Cali- 
fornia. The farther these lowlands lie from the mouths of the rivers 
the less they receive of coast influences. This gives the distant low- 
lands a higher temperature and greater forcing power upon vege- 
tation. The nights are warm as well as the days. Vegetables of 
prodigious size and acre-crops which tax credulity, are the result of 
the favoring conditions. But these lands are low and danger of frost 
makes it necessary to select crops for hardiness during a part of the 
year. 

Interior Plains and Foothills. — Above and away from the low- 
lands of the rivers and their deltas the interior plains stretch far as 



26 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the eye can reach, and rise, both on the east and west, into the foot- 
hills of the Sierra Nevada and the coast ranges. In southern Cali- 
fornia somewhat similar regions occur as the lands rise from the 
coast flats to the mesas and foothills of the high, incurved mountain 
range. There are similar climatic conditions prevailing through 
these vast interior regions both north and south. The rainfall is 
light as compared with the coast until the mountain climate is en- 
countered at varying elevations, when it becomes even greater than 
on the coast. The mean temperature is higher and, except in certain 
localities, the frosts cover a shorter period and are less severe. 
Winter growth of vegetables is widely feasible and plants of less 
hardihood than those of the lowlands are usually safe. But the rains 
cease earlier in the spring and heat and drought make irrigation 
essential long before it is required below. For summer growth of 
vegetables, except on small areas moistened by underflow from 
mountain springs or valley cienegas, irrigation must be provided. 
These are the regions which are most apt to be condemned as unfit 
for vegetable growing, and it is upon such lands that most failures 
and disappointments occur. It is true that local climatic conditions 
here need most radical modification by art of man, but it is here 
also that prompt and timely work and adequate irrigation, wind pro- 
tection and partial shade win their greatest victories. There is really 
no reason why the energetic, enterprising man should hesitate for a 
moment about undertaking preparation for his home supply of vege- 
tables. Commercial undertakings in vegetable growing may have to 
be confined to few plants grown just at the right moment, but even 
a small water supply with ample will and work will give a full 
variety for the family table. 

At certain elevations on the mesas and foothills of the interior 
valley, sheltered by local topography, are practically f restless regions 
with ample winter rains where winter growth is so fostered that the 
earliest vegetables as well as the earliest fruits are produced. Some 
tender vegetables may be ready for the table on the higher location 
before it is safe to plant the seed on the lower level. And the two 
situations may be in full sight of each other. It is a fact that in 
small valleys of the foothills late and early frosts, sharp and destruc- 
tive, may be more prevalent than on the lowlands of the broad val- 
ley below, while on the slopes above them tender plants may be safe. 

Irrigated Desert Valleys. — During the last decade a new region 
with distinctly different characteristics and capacities has become 
prominent and has achieved notable development. It includes val- 
leys east of the high mountains of southern California and com- 
prises the extreme southeast area of the state, and is largely the 
ancient flood plain of the Colorado river, whose deep alluvial soils 
are now irrigated by waters from the river which originally made 
them. It is known as the Imperial Valley, and has tributaries, like 
the Coachella Valley, etc. It is distinctly the earliest region of the 
state, being wholly excluded from coast influences and having the 



INTERIOR IRRIGATED GARDENS 27 

advantages of vernal heat from its south latitude, which comes so 
early that it practically banishes winter from the list of the seasons. 
Such conditions have favored the development of a cantaloup in- 
dustry which markets its product in all parts of the United States 
before any other region can enter into competition with it. The 
growth of winter cabbage is also largely undertaken and other early 
vegetables and fruits are produced to the extent justified by the 
market demand. As the season advances, however, its adaptability 
to the growth of succulents becomes restricted to those which can 
endure high heat and resist desiccation by desert winds which occa- 
sionally prevail. 

Mountain Valleys. — Among the mountain peaks and ridges 
from three thousand feet upward are slopes and valleys which are 
very productive of vegetables. As elevation increases wintry fea- 
tures become intensified and range of winter growth less and less 
until in the true "mountain valleys," which lie among the summits 
of the Sierra Nevada, the winter is a closed season of snow and ice 
and the garden becomes a summer affair as in the eastern states. 
Growth, however, during the open season is very rapid and satis- 
factory, moisture is abundant and irrigation facilities ample in the 
abundant supplies of snow waters from above, which need, how- 
ever, to be moderated in temperature before distribution. In this 
region gardening seasons and practices are more comparable with 
eastern policies and methods and are not characteristically Califor- 
nian as the term is usually understood. 

GENERAL CHARACTERS OF CALIFORNIA CLIMATE. 

The proper conclusion from the foregoing discussion is that 
each California locality must be separately studied to determine its 
climatic adaptations for vegetable growing and its season for the 
best discharge of the various gardening duties. Although, as will 
appear from time to time all through this treatise, very few general 
prescriptions such as are popular as "gardening calendars," "work 
for the month," etc., in regions of less climatic diversity, can be 
given as a guide to work in this state, still there are some generaliza- 
tions concerning leading climatic features as related to vegetable 
growing which may be of assistance to distant readers or newcomers. 

Relative Occurrences of Cloudiness and Sunshine in California 
Regions. — Due proportion of sunlight, warmth and moisture is nec- 
essary to produce quick and healthy vegetation. Cloudiness is also 
an important element, since the presence of clouds screens the earth 
and diminishes the heat received by vegetation from the direct rays 
of the sun. So also, acting as a screen, it prevents in a measure the 
radiation of heat from the earth into space, and this materially tends 
to modify and reduce the daily range of temperature, so that grow- 
ing vegetation is not subject to as great cold as would otherwise 
obtain during the night, nor on the other hand, does it receive the 
full amount of solar heat by day. 



28 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The average percentage of sunshine by seasons, with the aver- 
age number of actually clear days, is as follows for the stations 
named, as deduced from the records of the United States Weather 
Bureau for a number of years: 

TABLE OF CLOUDS AND SUNSHINE IN CALIFORNIA. 

WINTER SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN 



STATIONS 



m-^ TO w-^ TO M-^ TO W-^ 



Eureka 52 12 50 12 72 21 64 33 

San Francisco 53 35 57 38 57 29 65 42 

Los Angeles 66 49 56 36 69 39 75 54 

San Diego 61 37 51 26 54 24 63 38 

Red Bluff 55 38 62 42 88 80 78 70 

Sacramento 63 39 69 52 93 85 82 68 

Keeler 74 60 76 61 88 79 84 74 

Fresno 55 31 66 51 93 85 85 65 

Many useful deductions may be drawn from the above compila- 
tion. It should be borne in mind, however, that the weather con- 
ditions most favorable for vegetable growing are in some respects 
different from those which minister to the perfection of fruits. The 
fruit tree, with its roots deep in a moist soil, welcomes high heat to 
mature its fruit. The perfection of the esculent falls far short of 
the maturity of the plant and lies mainly in the measure and tender- 
ness of foliage, stem, immature fruit or fleshy root. These are usu- 
ally best attained at a degree of heat less than required for fruit 
ripening. Again edible plants as compared with trees are shallow- 
rooting and suffer in a very hot surface soil which a tree escapes by 
penetration of the subsoil. The growth of winter vegetables is ad- 
vanced by abundant sunshine during the rainy season; the growth 
of summer vegetables is promoted by cloud-screen from excessive 
sun heat, and it is clearly refreshed by a summer fog. Herein, in 
part at least, lies the explanation why the earliest vegetables come 
from moderately elevated interior regions (except as already noted 
for interior irrigated desert valleys) and the main crop of midseason 
and late vegetables is to be sought in regions whose climate is modi- 
fied by cool coast winds, which sometimes carry fogs and always 
temper sun action by their content of insensible aqueous vapor. 
Some plants are especially responsive to this action of coast breezes. 
Lima beans on the Ventura coast are sometimes rescued from failure 
through deficient rainfall by days of cool, misty breezes from the 
adjacent ocean. The same is true in varying degrees of all vegeta- 
tion and the fact is often of very great economic importance to 
California. 

Distribution of Rainfall. — The local rainfall throughout the 
state has, of course, about the same relation to local gardening as it 
has to other farm work, but it seems hardly necessary to discuss it 



WHEN RAINS MAY BE EXPECTED 29 

in this place, because it is possible now to secure the data from 
different sources. Local observers almost everywhere can furnish 
the facts. It is, however, pertinent to present a general compilation 
which fixes approximately the date at which effective rains may be 
expected in each main division of the state and thus impart a some- 
what definite notion of when the natural season of growth will begin. 
All should be in readiness beforehand to seize upon this opportunity 
for soil working, if one is to proceed without irrigation, and for the 
planting of seeds of hardy vegetables which will withstand the local 
winter temperature and give the earliest readiness for use under the 
circumstances. 

When the First Rains May Be Expected. — The rainfall at San 
Francisco is very close to the mean between the heavy and light 
rainfall of the state ; hence it represents very largely the whole 
state. Considering the record of the United States Weather Ob- 
server, it is found by Mr. Page that during a twenty-five year period 
ending in 1895, the average date of first 0.05 of an inch of rainfall 
occurs by September 17. Considering June 30 as the official end of 
one season and July 1 the commencement of the next season, the 
earliest date of 0.05 of an inch of rain is July 8, 1885, and the latest 
October 27, 1875— that is, from July 1 to October 27, 1875, only 
0.05 of an inch of rain fell. As 0.05 of an inch of rain is such a 
small amount, it has been deemed best to consider that when one- 
quarter (0.25) of an inch of rain has fallen that date be considered 
the commencement of the rainy season. Using this, then, as a basis, 
we find that the rainy season begins on October 8. The earliest 
date of a quarter of an inch is September 8, 1884, and the latest 
not until November 23, 1880. 

As one-quarter of an inch of rainfall at San Francisco is hardly 
sufficient to allow of rainfall over the southern portion of the state, 
a basis of one inch at San Francisco was considered for the south- 
ern portion as the commencement of the rains there, and this is 
found to be November 1. The earliest date of one inch of rain is 
September 15, 1888. and the latest December 3, 1890. 

One inch of rainfall at San Francisco is not sufficient for the 
interior of the state to allow of good plowing and seeding; hence 
a total of two inches at San Francisco was considered, and it is 
found that two inches of rain falls at San Francisco up to Novem- 
ber 1 ; hence that date can be said to be the date of commencement 
of good plowing. 

Five inches is considered to indicate that the rainy season has 
entered upon full effect, and it is found that five inches does not fall 
before December 15, and that the earliest date that five inches has 
fallen is October 21, 1889, and the latest February 5, 1891. In this 
latter season February was very wet, and the total for the season 
was seventeen fifty-eight hundredths inches. 

To summarize, we have first rains September 17; rainy season 
begins October 8, and in southern portion of state November 1 ; 



30 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

ground moistened for plowing November 13, and rainy season in 
full effect December 15. Of course, there will be occasionally a 
year in which a good fall of rain may come earlier and, occasionally 
also, storms from the southward deeply moisten southern California 
before the normal storms of northerly origin reach the upper parts 
of the state. Therefore planters everywhere should always be ready 
to take advantage of the first deep moistening of the soil to start 
plants which thrive in our autumn temperatures. 

The Occurrence of Frosts in California. — The occurrence of 
frost in California is, from one point of view, a purely local ques- 
tion. As has already been stated, the frosty and the frostless places 
are often in sight of each other on the same landscape from the 
same point of view. It can be even more closely drawn than that. 
It is sometimes quite as plainly to be seen as the high-water line of 
a river flood on a sloping meadow. This occurs, of course, in what 
are termed the thermal belts and is determined by elevation, air cur- 
rents, outflow levels and several other incidents of local topography. 
There are often wide variations in these lines from year to year and 
yet there is steadfastness enough about the phenomena to enable 
residents to agree among themselves as to what localities are "in the 
frost" and what are out of it. Upon this decision depends the busi- 
ness risk in planting out beans, peppers, tomatoes, etc., for winter 
growth, and it is upon such fields that the frost, not always content 
with the local definition of its limits, draws the dead line which the 
morning sun brings into such fateful prominence. Of course, the 
grower is not necessarily content to accept such natural boundaries 
of the thermal belt. He can materially change it all by frost-fight- 
ing, but the discussion of that matter belongs to another chapter. 

It is important to know as nearly as possible the beginning and 
end of the frost free period in each locality, and data to assist in 
determining this fact are given in the chapter on the Planting 
Season. 

COMMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE. 

It is a striking fact that winter storage of fresh vegetables is 
not necessary in Cahfornia. The mild California winter does not 
freeze hardy vegetables, consequently they are allowed to grow until 
the shipping season arrives, as in the case of celery, cabbage, par- 
snips, salsify, etc., or are gathered, sacked and placed under some 
cheap shelter from the rains, as in the case of potatoes, beets, car- 
rots, etc. No storage pits or cellars are thought of. In fact, the 
most direct and cheapest method of loading cars is employed in 
many instances, for railway spurs are carried right into the center 
of the celery, cauliflower and cabbage fields, the crates filled and the 
cars loaded from the ground on which the crops were grown. This 
not only reduces the cost of handling and eliminates the cost of 
storage, it enables the grower to supply the winter and spring mar- 
kets on the Atlantic side, in the Middle West and the great interior 



CALIFORNIA OUTLOOK IN TRUCK FARMING 31 

plateau, as well as the North Pacific coast territory of the United 
States and Canada, with vegetables fresh from the soil during many- 
months when they have no fresh products of their own. 

No part of the United States, except an adjacent district of 
Arizona and the south end of Florida, enjoys a winter temperature 
which makes such a traffic possible, and even those small outside 
areas which have similar temperature do not have other conditions 
of growth like those of California. It is evident that in the future 
development of the western half of the continent of North America 
and in the unfolding of North Pacific countries generally, California 
is to be the source of fresh vegetables during the many months of 
winter which prevail in those northern latitudes. For this traffic 
California enjoys not only suitable growing conditions, but has also 
the advantage of nearness and of transportation by water. No mat- 
ter how great, then, the eastern movement of winter-grown vege- 
tables may become, the northern and northwestern movement, of 
which California will have a monopoly, will induce additional pro- 
duction to an extent which cannot now be foreseen, although the 
present traffic in those directions is considerable and profitable. 



CHAPTER IV. 
VEGETABLE SOILS OF CALIFORNIA. 

Soils which favor the most satisfactory growth of vegetables 
are those which are most easily maintained in a condition of tilth 
to promote seed germination and rapid establishment of the seedling 
in sure-growing contact with the soil-substance; soils which facili- 
tate deep-root penetration by the advancing plant so that moisture 
and plant food shall be rapidly reached, and which have sufficient 
retentive power and capillarity to maintain adequate moisture within 
reach of the roots and such amount of natural fertility that the plant 
may attain the greatest growth in the least time. Soils with these 
characters have also the most valuable incidental qualities of warmth, 
to foster vegetable processes ; porosity to facilitate the escape of 
surplus water and the entrance of the air with its constituents which 
promote root action and modification of the soil substance and ab- 
sorptive power to readily receive and deeply distribute rainfall or 
irrigation. These are high requirements, for it is an ideal soil which 
possesses them all. 

Ideal Soils Not Essential. — Fortunately gardening art is amply 
able to supply natural deficiencies in nearly all respects and, if he 
is working for high-priced products on a comparatively small area, 
the vegetable grower can often profitably make considerable ex- 
penditure for soil improvement. Market gardeners need no exhor- 
tation in this line, but the home gardener should be urged not to 
despair because of any refractory character in the soil he is obliged 
to utilize. If he study the subject by the aid of most excellent 
treatises recently written on the soil and its amelioration he can pro- 
ceed rationally and accomplish marvels with Will, Work and Water 
upon almost any soil, from a brick yard to a desert. City people 
have grown their table supplies on housetops ; no ruralist can find a 
less productive subsoil. 

Light Rather Than Heavy Soils. — The characters already cited 
point clearly to what is commonly designated as a rather light soil 
as best for vegetable growing. The extreme variations in soils are 
popularly known as heavy adobe and light sandy soils. Neither are 
usually counted suitable for garden purposes without treatment to 
overcome their defects and yet as the terms are used in some Cali- 
fornia regions, there are very good gardens on both of them. The 
explanation is that in such localities one has less sand and one less 
clay than the other. Both are really loams or mixtures of sand and 
clay ; one a clayey loam, the other a loamy sand. Aside from this 
misapprehension of terms we have, of course, clays (locally called 
"adobe") which are true enough to the type to bring despair to the 
[32] 



CALIFORNIA SOILS ADMIRABLE 33 

most patient gardener and we have washes of pure coarse sand on 
which a shallow-rooting plant could hardly live with a stream of 
water pouring over beside it. But our shifting sands of the interior 
plains and our so-called deserts are sandy loams which yield pro- 
fusely when properly irrigated. For the improvement of defective 
soils for the farm-garden, suggestions will be given later. 

Soils Naturally Excellent. — For field growth of vegetables in 
California the grower is usually content to proceed upon the natural 
texture and fertility of his soil, although during recent years the use 
of fertilizers has notably increased. The crop is chosen to suit the 
local soil and climate, consequently we have districts becoming 
famous for special vegetable products as demand for them in con- 
siderable quantities is demonstrated. In such districts the soils are 
rather light and yet ample in richness to endure for some time the 
drain of continuous cropping in the same line. We have areas of 
such soils considerably in excess of their present profitable use. 
They constitute one of our undeveloped resources and are a surety 
of future advancement. 

A very gratifying amount of accurate knowledge of California 
soils is to be credited to the late Dr. E. W. Hilgard, of the Univer- 
sity of California, who gave a lifetime to advanced investigations 
in soil physics and chemistry. It is from his publications' that we 
shall condense some account of the specific character of those soils 
which are mostly nearly related to local production of vegetables, 
leaving out of account the heavy adobe, which is little used for 
these crops except by gardeners who radically change its physical 
character. 

Prevailing Character of California Soils. — In his interesting 
contrast of the soils of arid and humid regions, Dr. Hilgard makes 
some generalizations, which we collate to serve our present purpose. 

The character of the soils of the arid regions is predominantly 
sandy or silty, with but a small portion of clay unless derived 
directly or indirectly from pre-existing formations of clay or clay 
shales. 

The idea of inherent fertility has been associated so generally 
with sorts of a more or less clayey character, that the newcomer 
will frequently be suspicious of the productiveness and desirability 
of the sandy or silty soils of the arid region that experience has 
shown to be of the highest type in both respects. 

Another point of great importance is that the difference be- 
tween soil and subsoil, which is so striking and important in regions 
of abundant rainfall, is largely obliterated in arid climates. Very 
commonly hardly a perceptible change of tint or texture is found 
for depths of several feet and material from such depths, when 
thrown on the surface, is nearly or quite as fertile as the original 
surface soil. In the case of a cellar dug near Nevada City, the red 

1 "Soils: Their Formation, Properties, Composition and Relations to Climate and Plant 
Growth;" also "Agriculture for Schools of the Pacific Slope," by Hilgard and Osterhoul. 
Published by the Macmillan Co., of New York. 



34 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

soil mass excavated from a depth of seven to ten feet was spread 
over part of a vegetable garden near by and tomatoes, beans and 
watermelons were planted on it. The gowth was even better than 
on the parts of the old surface not covered, which had apparently 
become somewhat exhausted by years of use. 

Examination has shown that the percentage of humus or vege- 
table mold is less in the soils of the arid region, but their humus 
contains more nitrogen. Thus, probably, on the average not only 
is the aggregate supply of nitrogen in the soils of the arid region 
approximately equal to that of humid soils, but its absorption by 
plants is exceptionally favored by climatic conditions. 

As to the minerals which constitute fertility, the soils of the 
arid region contain nearly fifteen times as much lime, five times as 
much magnesia, three times as much potash, and about the same 
amount of phosphoric acid as the soils of the humid regions. 

Significance of These Facts. — These leading characteristics of 
California's horticultural soils are of the highest significance to the 
vegetable grower because they show that California is rich in soils 
of ideal excellence for his purposes. They are light soils and there- 
fore easy of cultivation and not disposed to bake on drying; they 
are deep, consequently well drained and yet absorptive and retentive 
enough ; they are exceptionally rich, consequently extremely produc- 
tive and durable and they can often be given a new fertile surface 
by deep turning from the fertility of the greater depths. This was 
the natural endowment which enabled the pioneer vegetable growers 
to disturb the horticultural peace of the world in 1849-50. The 
achievements of later years indicate that with rational treatment the 
superiority of California soils will endure indefinitely into the 
future. 

The distribution of these desirable soils gives all regions a share 
in them. Either as residual soils resulting from the decomposition 
of adjacent rocks, or as transported loams which have been carried 
greater or less distances by wind, glacial action or other moving 
force, or as alluvial or sediment soils, deposited by action of flow- 
ing streams, every California county has its vegetable soils in ample 
measure. Such is the diversity of soils within narrow areas in 
California that it may not take a very large farm to enclose several 
diverse types, and it is the first duty of the settler to learn their spe- 
cial characters and adaptations and plan his production accordingly. 

Alluvial or Sediment Soils. — Though there is marked difference 
in the origin of our soils which are suitable for vegetable growing, 
when proper moisture conditions are arranged, it is naturally the 
alluvial or sediment soils which have hitherto been chiefly used. 
They have been deposited by recent or ancient water courses and 
have formerly served as river banks or river and lake bottoms. 
They have beneath them, generally quite far below, the prevailing 
soil of the adjacent country. They consist of fine alluvium with 
seldom any admixture of coarse materials. They are usually very 



IMPROVING HEAVY SOILS 35 

deep and well drained. They occur sometimes at a considerably- 
higher level than existing streams and are sometimes designated as 
"next to river bottom," while lower levels constitute the "river bot- 
tom." In some small valleys they have spread deeply all over the 
original soil, having been washed in such quantities from adjacent 
hills, and in larger valleys have spread for considerable distances 
out upon the plain. These are primarily the fruit lands, but they 
are also largely used for such vegetables as thrive upon lighter and 
drier soils. Below are the present river bottoms, usually dark, rich 
and moist and not subject to baking or cracking, which are par ex- 
cellence, vegetable lands. 

Peat Lands. — Another class of alluvial soils is known as peat 
soils, which consist of mixtures in various proportions of silt and 
sediment with the debris of centuries' growth of swamp plants 
which the streams have currently overflowed in flood times or over 
which they have risen daily as the tide wall has held back their 
waters. This organic matter from the aquatic plants is in various 
stages of decomposition, but in the best of lands has been reduced 
to fineness by cultivation after the floods and tides have been ex- 
cluded by levees, or by natural barriers interposed by stream or 
wave action, or by recession of lake waters according as the situa- 
tion is on the coast or distant interior. This light but very deep and 
rich soil especially suits some plants and is the basis of some of our 
export vegetable business, as for instance, asparagus and celery 
growing. Such soils are, of course, used locally for all esculent 
plants which thrive upon them and which the market favors. Such 
lands are in vast area in many parts of the state, from near the 
ocean to the margins of interior rivers and lakes and waters of in- 
teiror plateaus as well. In the heat of the interior valleys they dry 
out very rapidly when seepage or overflow from streams and sloughs 
is cut ofif by levees. They are non-retentive, owing to the coarseness 
of their structure, but irrigation is easily accomplished, as will be 
noted in the proper connection. 

IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL TEXTURE FOR GARDENING. 

Aside from such treatment of the soil as is designed to increase 
its fertility, which will be considered in the chapter on fertilizing, 
it seems fitting in this connection to suggest measures by which the 
texture of the soil may be improved when necessary. This is im- 
portant in the farm garden because there may not be anything ap- 
proaching an ideal garden soil inside the line fences. But this fact 
should not discourage the home gardener, as has already been 
intimated. 

If one observes the operation of market gardeners or reads any 
treatise on gardening written for the older countries, he is apt to 
conclude that the Creator has done little for the modern garden 
except to furnish a place to put it, because the chief art of gardening 
seems to consist in using as little of natural soil as possible. This 



36 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

state of affairs has not arisen in California yet, for the reasons 
shown in the descriptions of our garden soils, and yet we do not 
mean to suggest that the farm gardener should in all cases expect 
to reach satisfactory results without due effort for soil improvement 
on the small area which he expects to yield so much. 

Improvement of Adobe Soils. — Our adobes, especially those of 
the darker hues, are rich and durable. In common with heavy clay 
soils everywhere they are retentive of moisture. In our arid sum- 
mers, however, they lose their moisture speedily by evaporation, if 
untilled, and dry out to a greater depth than lighter soils. They are 
refractory under tillage and unless caught at just the right moment 
they are either wax or rock under the plow, and the cultivator will 
either stick fast or ride over the surface. And yet if one has 
nothing but adobe he is not as badly off as he might be, because 
adobe is easily susceptible of improvement. The points to attain 
are several, but they are inter-related and effort for one measurably 
helps toward all. 

The free used of burned lime, either as it comes from the kiln 
for builder's use or when air-slaked or water-slaked (hydrated), and 
applied about the time of the first rains is the first and simplest 
effort toward breaking up the tenacity of the soil. This should be 
done no matter what greater efforts are to be undertaken later. 

Deep and thorough tillage, taking the soil at just that condition 
of moisture when it works well with plow and harrow, will be found 
to progressively improve its tillability by mere action of air and im- 
plements. If this is all that can be undertaken at first, do this thor- 
oughly and put in the cultivator after each heavy rain as soon as 
the proper condition of soil arrives, so as to prevent baking of the 
surface. For winter growth of vegetables in regions of ample rain- 
fall, use the ridge system, which will be described in a subsequent 
chapter. 

But liming and persistent tillage are only temporizing with 
adobe and do not accomplish permanent reform. The first rational 
step is to resort to adequate drainage. Tile drains two and a half 
or three feet deep and twenty feet apart will do for garden plants. 
This leaves a clear surface for working over, but, if the expense 
of tiling is not desired, open ditches will answer, but they restrict 
cultivation to one direction, waste land, and are expensive in hand 
work in killing weeds in the ditches. Open ditches, are, however, 
better than no ditches at all. The effect of drainage is to promote 
friability, to render the soil tillable earlier and oftener, by the quick 
removal of surplus water, and to promote seed germination and 
plant growth. 

The aeration of adobe by drainage and tillage accomplishes a 
considerable improvement, but still more radical reform measures 
are desirable. The soil particles are naturally too small. They must 
be separated by interposition of coarser grains. Plow into the soil 
as much coarse material as possible. Farmyard manure, straw, 



IMPROVING SANDY SOILS 37 

sand, old plaster, coal ashes, sawdust, almost anything coarse or 
gritty which will break up the close adherence of the fine clay parti- 
cles, release the surplus water and let in the air, will produce a 
marked effect in reducing the hateful baking and cracking, root- 
tearing and moisture-losing behavior of the adobe. Scrape the cor- 
rals, rake up the leaves and fine litter of all kinds, make the adobe 
garden patch the graveyard for all the rubbish which is suceptible 
of decay. The farm will be neater and the garden will pay the ex- 
pense in its easier working and better growth. Do this every year 
before the rains come and you will rejoice that you had an adobe 
foundation for the farm garden. 

The Improvement of Light, Sandy Soils. — This effort is in 
some cases more difficult than conquering adobe. It all depends 
upon the coarseness of the sand and the subsoil upon which it rests. 
If soil and subsoil are coarse sand or gravel to a considerable depth, 
some fruit trees may thrive, but shallow rooting plants will fail un- 
less they can finish their growth during the rainy season. Summer 
growth is impossible because water will flow through their sieve-like 
structure and carry away plant food with it. With moisture leach- 
ing away below and flying away above, and with intense sun heat 
burning the foliage by direct contact and reflection, such wash soils 
are indescribably worse than adobe. But this condemation should 
not be rashly applied. The reference is to soils very coarse in char- 
acter which have the appearance of washed sand and gravel. Other- 
wise it may be a soil carried from the surface of the hillsides by 
the eroding streams, and, if composed of reasonably fine materials, 
in addition to sand and gravel, should have plenty of plant food for 
a time at least. The chief difficulty will lie in maintaining moisture 
for shallow rooting plants. Obviously such soils are best suited for 
winter growth, for they are "warm and early" when situated out 
of frosty places. 

Sandy soils which are imposed upon clay or hardpan, provid- 
ing the underlying stratum is not alkaline, furnish very promising 
garden material, even though the layer be too shallow for the 
growth of trees. Many fruit growers are struggling to maintain 
trees on such spots in their orchards when they should forsake the 
effort and by adequate use of water and manure turn such spots into 
family gardens. The holding of water near the surface, which is 
fatal to tree roots, is the opportunity for the growth of most vege- 
tables. Depth of soil which is so strongly insisted upon in treatises 
on gardening, constitutes a storehouse of moisture and plant food, 
but it has been abundantly demonstrated that depth is not essential 
provided the plant is otherwise fed and watered. California gar- 
dens proceeding upon rainfall alone, need a deep, retentive soil ; the 
irrigated garden may thrive upon a soil too coarse to be retentive 
providing it has a tight bottom to hold moisture within reach of 
shallow rooting plants. Therefore reclaim such sand by providing 
a home water supply, if not in an irrigated region, and use plenty 



38 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

of well-composted and decayed manure, which will not only feed 
the plants but will also reform its texture and transform the coarse 
sand into a rich garden soil, kind in cultivation and prodigious in its 
yield of succulent vegetables, for sand is best of all materials for 
free and rapid root development. 

The treatment of such soil is directly opposite that prescribed 
for adobe. All coarse materials must go through composting, 
which will be described in another chapter. The garden should be 
cleared of all its own coarse refuse and only fine compost or com- 
mercial fertilizers used upon it. Both of these act benignly upon 
its texture. 



CHAPTER V. 
GARDEN IRRIGATION. 

It has already been intimated that the irrigated garden should 
be the aim of all who desire to attain the fullest satisfaction in 
vegetable growing. 

What Can Be Done Without Irrigation f — But while it is true 
that the California gardener must have irrigation to do his best and 
to give him a solid year of rotations and successions in his garden, 
due emphasis must be laid upon the fact that in suitable locations 
the unirrigated garden in California is a greater treasure than at 
the East. This fact is due to the character of our winter climate, 
which, as has already been shown in a previous chapter, is actually 
a growing season for all but the vegetables which will endure no 
frost. By using to their fullest capacity our six rainy months, by 
early cultivation and planting, which will be fully explained later, 
midwinter and spring vegetables can be produced in great variety; 
and by proper cultivation for the retention of moisture, tender vege- 
tables planted as early in the spring as frost-freedom can be assured, 
will find in a good soil which has received adequate rainfall, moist- 
ure enough stored to carry them to perfection in midsummer and 
autumn, although not a drop of rain may fall from the sowing of 
the seed to the gathering of the crop. For this reason owners of 
fairly deep and retentive soil in regions of ample rainfall can attain 
splendid results without irrigation, if they will only be alert for 
prompt work and persistent in summer cultivation. 

What can be done in California with the unirrigated garden 
depends upon conditions existing in each locality. Character and 
depth of soil, amount of rainfall, degree of heat and percentage of 
relative humidity in the air, the lay of the land — all these are deter- 
mining factors, in addition to the dates of frost occurrence which 
fix the opening and closing of the season for tender plants in the 
open ground. The significance of variations in these factors, and 
the regions where they usually occur in widest extremes, have been 
suggested in previous chapters and the ways to shape garden prac- 
tice to these local variations will naturally be discussed as we come 
to describe successful methods with the different vegetables. There- 
fore let no man conclude that he cannot grow vegetables until he 
completes his arrangement for irrigation unless he is sure that his 
winter rainfall is too uncertain to grow even a crop of wheat, for 
a rainfall that will carry the wheat plant to maturity will also pro- 
duce quite a variety of garden vegetables with proper practice in 
early sowing and frequent cultivation. 

[39] 



40 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

And from this low-water mark the unirrigated garden pro- 
ceeds upward with richer endowment of favoring local conditions, 
insuring length of growing season and variety of vegetables until 
it really becomes a question whether irrigation is needed at all. It 
certainly is not for ample yield of many, possibly all, of the staples 
of the garden, but to insure a succession of salads and relishes, pot- 
herbs and legumes — in short, to enjoy the fullness of the California 
season, the irrigated garden, we say again, and for the last time, 
we hope, is the thing to be diligently striven for. 

SOURCES OF IRRIGATION WATER. 

Whence the garden shall receive its water supply is a question 
for each to determine according to his environment. Water is now 
flowing over California gardens from various sources as the result 
of all sorts of individual, co-operative and corporate efforts and in- 
vestments. It would require volumes to describe them. Large irri- 
gation enterprises are the joint work of engineers and capitalists. 
That gardener is fortunate who has only to buy his water frorn a 
fair-dealing ditch company or draw his share from a co-operative 
water company in which he has an interest. Such a source is best 
of all because causing least labor and expense in average cases. 
Wherever the landowner can promote honestly and economically 
managed irrigation enterprises for community use he should do it 
without an exhortation. But to whatever extent this work is car- 
ried there will always remain opportunities, probably, where farm 
gardens can command their own irrigation supplies at a cost which 
will warrant the effort. It is in this line that a few suggestions will 
be offered. 

Surface Sources. — In the unirrigated regions of the state there 
are countless opportunities for home supplies of irrigation water by 
the simple process of allowing it to run down hill your way instead 
of that way which is natural to it. Water which would be of great 
value in the house and barn and farm-garden is allowed to flow by 
in its own deep channel when a very little use of the level would 
show that a part of it could be taken out into a ditch or pipe, higher 
up its course through the farm, and brought along with less fall 
than it naturally takes, until it reaches the buildings high up the 
slope above the bank instead of in the deep bed it has cut in the 
soil below. This is very simple and inexpensive, and yet we have 
many hillside places in the central and northern parts of the state 
where the water is carried up by hand to the house, and the animals 
are driven down to the water, and the garden is neglected because 
it is too hard work to haul water up to it. Of course, there are many 
cases where such an obvious resource of the farm has been utilized, 
but there are many where it is neglected. 

Many springs on the hillsides are allowed to be trampled into 
mudholes by the stock, which need but cleaning out and opening 
up to yield a water-flow beyond any amount which the old outcrop- 




Univ. of Cal. Experiment Station 

Laying off in ridges and ridges flattened for planting. — Pages IZ and 202. 




H 



SAVING WATER FOR THE GARDEN 



41 



ping would indicate. A short pipe line would deliver water in the 
tops of the buildings if desired and would generously irrigate all 
the land needed for the family garden. And yet the hillsides are 
full of unused springs. One has, however, to be very careful about 
handling a spring. Good springs have been lost by excavating or 
blasting for the purpose of increasing the flow. Sometimes it has 
caused the spring to disappear entirely. At the same time the flow 
has been increased on some springs by careful opening, cleaning 
out interfering dirt and rubbish so as to open the exit of the water 
without opening other exits for its escape. When this is done, 
cementing around to prevent loss of water by seepage is often 
effective in increasing the flow or at least conserving it so that a 
better run of water is obtained. 

Between the hills above the building sites there are many inter- 
vales which are impassable in the rainy season and covered with a 
growth of sedges and swamp grass all summer. They are natural 
reservoirs of greater or less capacity, holding the surface water 
and underflow from the hillsides. In the dry season plowing and 
scraping will easily fashion a small reservoir at the lowest point 
of the intervale and a pipe line will bring down water at least for 




, o--"*',-;i..-«i;.i::H-i 

'"t^ t--';^.V !!■•■•,< -Jill"' 



Boggy Land Caused by Seepage. 

irrigation, if it is not suited for other uses. Or if there be below 
a better site for a reservoir, underdrainage of the swamp will turn 
it to the growth of good grasses while the outflow from the drains 
can be converted into garden crops below. 

Again even when the surface after the rainy season shows no 
sign of moisture, it is often possible to keep a good supply in sight 
by closing some small vale and dry-creek bed with a dam to hold 
for summer use in the garden some part of the volumes of water 
which rush down from the water-shed during the winter rains. 

All these are elementary problems in water developing and 
water saving. It would reflect upon the speaker's intelligence to 
mention them in some parts of the state, and yet in the unirrigated 
regions there lie these neglected opportunities — monuments of in- 
attention or unthrift. 



42 



CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Stibterreanean Water Sources. — There are few places where 
water for a home garden cannot be had by well-digging and there 
are many large districts where flowing wells are secured by shallow 
boring. At the bases of hills horizontal wells or tunnels are fre- 
quently satisfactory. The capacity of these wells and tunnels is 
sometimes very great. They often warrant long-ditch lines or figure 
in the supply of towns and cities. Unquestionably the present de- 
velopment of water by these means is only a fraction of what is 
possible and the owner of untried land should undertake a reason- 
able amount of prospecting. It is, of course, easy to waste money 
in this way, but if one proceeds after as full study as he can make 
of the surface, the outcroppings of rock, the experience of others in 
the same region, he is pretty sure to realize upon reasonable antici- 
pations. 

Excavations in dry creek beds of gravel and boulders have 
often brought to light considerable underflow which has been ar- 
rested and the water stored by cement dams resting on the bed rock. 










■'%,. 



•^'Hiii-'-y- 



Reclaimed by Reservoir Building. 

Flowing wells and wells which bring the water near to the sur- 
face constitute the main source of subterranean water employed in 
California. They have reclaimed large districts which were form- 
erly arid wastes and they are largely used also for summer crops 
in regions of ample winter rains. Well borers equipped with good 
appHances are to be found in all parts of the state. 

WATER-LIFTING DEVICE. 

At this point it will be well to remark that any gardener is 
fortunate who has water brought to the highest point of his planta- 
tion by its own weight without a struggle on his part against the 
force of gravity, and yet there are thousands of instances of satis- 
factory home gardening by simple water-lifting devices. 



PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION 43 

Horizontal Windmills. — Devices based upon the overshot-wheel 
principle are used to some extent on this coast, but the summer 
winds at the ground surface are usually too light to operate them 
well. In its simplest form this windmill consists of four boards, 
about seven feet long, fastened to long arms projecting from an 
axle, which has bearings on two strong posts or a framework. The 
wind only strikes the upper part of the wheel, the lower part being 
inclosed by a board fence. In a slight breeze the mill revolves about 
twenty revolutions per minute, but in a good, stiff gale it flies so 
fast that a sliding board must be raised to shut off the wind. The 
wheel is connected with the plunger of the pump by means of a 
crank at one end of the axle. 

Gasoline and Crude Oil Engines. — These devices have been 
greatly improved during the last few years and are now being 
largely employed for water lifting for irrigation. There are sev- 
eral manufacturers in California, the fuel is very cheap here and 
this, in connection with ease with which the engines are managed, 
constitute them most economical and satisfactory agencies for 
pumping. The manufacturers give full information and can usually 
cite engines in operation in different localities where their perform- 
ances can be personally ascertained. 

Electric Pumping. — Recently the extension of power lines in 
nearly all directions in California has made electric energy available 
for garden pumping and efficient motors at low cost are offered. 
Handlers of such machinery are always ready to demonstrate the 
quality and cost of their appliances and they are being widely used. 

Steam Engines. — Pumping plants of great capacity operating 
by steam power are also in use for irrigation. Large vegetable- 
growing enterprises render considerable investment in these lines 
profitable. Their construction and operation are, however, rather 
beyond the scope of this work. The advice of a mechanical engi- 
neer should be secured in all large undertakings. 

The Chinese Pump. — A water-lifting device which is very 
effective for a short lift, as from a ditch or stream to adjoining 
lands, is the Chinese pump, which has long been in use in Cali- 
fornia. It is a modified "Persian wheel," and is so simple that it 
can be home-made with old threshing machine gearing or other 
mechanical junk. It consists of an endless belt working like the 
"elevator" or "straw carrier" of a threshing machine. For instance, 
take an old machine belt eight inches wide and twenty feet long or 
sew together strong canvas to make one. Make a box or trough 
about nine feet long, eight inches wide and six inches deep inside 
measurement, with no ends nor cover. Rig at each end of this box 
a wheel or pulley over which the endless belt can run. Fasten to 
the belt, a few inches apart, blocks scant eight inches long and four 
inches wide, so that the belt will have a flat surface on one side 
and the other crossed with the blocks. When this is placed in the 
box and over the pulleys at each end fasten the box securely in an 



44 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

inclined position with the lower end in the water, turn the upper 
pulley by a hand crank or a small belt from a source of power and 
the blocks will elevate the water and shoot it out from the top of 
the box in fine style. For a short lift this apparatus discharges quite 
a large volume of water with comparatively little power. 

DEVICES FOR SELF-LIFTING WATER SUPPLY. 

Where running water is at hand in ample supply and with ade- 
quate velocity, the water can be made to lift itself to a distributing 
point, if not too high. The most capacious agencies belong to a 
class of motors called current wheels. 

Current Wheels. — A current wheel is an arrangement resem- 
bling the paddle wheel of a steamboat, with a central shaft acting 
as a hub for the spoke-like arms which carry on their ends boxes or 
buckets. The wheel is hung by the projecting ends of the shaft 
so that the buckets are just covered under the surface of the water. 
The current catches them and causes the wheel to revolve ; the filled 
buckets are carried up as empty ones descend into the water. The 
filled buckets are emptied as the turning of the wheel inverts them, 
and the water is caught in a box properly placed and is then con- 
ducted by a flume to the point of discharge. Current wheels are 
largely used for short lifts from streams or irrigation ditches in 
which the water flows with sufficient velocity to revolve them. The 
wheels are usually home-made and much ingenuity can be employed 
in constructing them of available materials. 

Hydraulic Rams. — The hydraulic ram is wasteful in that it can 
deliver at a higher level but a fraction of the water furnished it and 
it requires a definite fall for its action. Where conditions are favor- 
able it does become an effective agency because it acts incessantly 
and, with suitable storage, considerable amounts of water become 
available for irrigation. Manufacturers of hydraulic rams furnish 
full accounts of their requirements and achievements. 

A suggestive combination of current wheel and hydraulic ram, 
in operation in this state, is described as follows : 

A. P. Osborn's residence and the best part of his land are located on high 
grounds on the bank of Tule river. To get water on this land without going 
several miles up the river and bringing out a ditch, Mr. Osborn placed in the 
river a wheel twenty-five feet in diameter and five feet wide. Surrounding 
this wheel on either side are forty boxes, each holding four gallons of water, 
making in all eighty boxes, with an entire lifting capacity of three hundred 
and twenty gallons at each revolution of the wheel, which is turned by the 
current of the river. As the boxes reach an elevation of twenty-two feet, the 
water in them is emptied into flume, which conducts it onward into an irri- 
gation ditch. This elevating the water twenty-two feet is only sufficient to 
place it on the flat whereon is done the farming, and will not take it to the 
knoll on which stands the residence. This is accomplished by a hydraulic 
ram. A part of the water reaching the top of the river bank is allowed to 
run back down the steep bank through a pipe, thus furnishing motive power 
to run the ram, which sends water up to the house. The wheel and flume 
cost, when completed, $150, and, considering the small liability of its becoming 
damaged, it is certainly preferable to keeping in repair several miles of ditch. 



IRRIGATING BY SIPHON 45 

Conveying Water by Siphon. — Conveying water over higher 
ground to a point of delivery on the other side lower than the sup- 
ply point is a simple operation, and one which might be more gen- 
erally employed than it is. A simple instance is this : selecting a 
low, moist spot over the hill, a pit was dug, twelve by twenty-four 
feet to a depth of twelve feet. When completed, five and a half 
feet of water gathered in the pond. An inch pipe was laid along 
the level about four hundred feet and over a gently sloping ridge 
twelve and one-half feet above the plain and then down the slope 
westward about eight hundred feet. At the summit a pump was 
used temporarily to draw the water upward in the pipe and soon a 
flow began from the outlet. The pump was removed and the siphon 
worked to perfection. 

Siphons are very satisfactory where applicable and are some- 
times made of pipes of considerable diameter where the supply is 
large. Such devices are vastly cheaper than tunneling. It is even 
on record that a fruit grower put in quite an expensive pumping 
plant to force water over a hill to his orchard on the other side and 
was surprised to find that the water ran when the pump was not in 
motion. He had not figured that the delivery point was lower than 
the supply point, but so it was. In the case of conveying water 
from rivers to leveed lands below the stream, the siphon is cheaper 
than a flood-gate and safer and has the advantage of being portable. 

FARM AND GARDEN RESERVOIRS. 

For the construction of a dam to restrain the water of a creek 
it is always wisest for the man who has had no experience in such 
work to secure the advice of an expert. Fortunately such men are 
very abundant in California as dam building has been a profession 
of Californians ever since early mining days. The making of water- 
tight dams on a small scale is not necessarily a very expensive opera- 
tion, but it is liable to become so if not done properly. An experi- 
enced man can give suggestions as to the location of the work in 
view of the natural conditions and the use to be made of the water, 
the character of natural banks or bottom which it is designed to use 
and the best materials at hand for building, as well as the proper 
form of the construction for safety and efficiency in connection 
with economical completion of the job. Expert advice is especially 
necessary where dams are to be built for closing natural waterways, 
for such efforts involve the handling of volumes of storm water 
which a farmer may have little conception of, though he may have 
grown up on the site. 

The excavation of a small reservoir to collect water from 
sources wholly apart from a natural water course is a simpler propo- 
sition and can be easily done with farm experience and appliances, 
and on this work some suggestions may be offered. 



46 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

First:' Location is governed by local factors, but it should be 
at sufficient elevation to deliver the water freely at whatever point 
its use is desired. 

Second: Its area will depend upon the prospective water 
supply. If this is ample, do not make the pond too small. A cir- 
cular reservoir with an average depth of four feet through a circular 
space forty feet in diameter, will hold water enough to cover two- 
thirds of an acre two inches deep. This will amount to a good soak- 
ing of a good-sized farm garden, and is probably as small a dirt 
reservoir as it will be worth while to make. For smaller storage 
wooden or galvanized iron tanks can well be used. 

Third : In shape the circle is easiest to mark out and construct 
symmetrically and encloses the greatest possible area with the least 
length of bank, but on a small figure it may be a little easier to 
handle teams and scrapers on an oval. 

Fourth: A fairly retentive loam free from rock or rubbish, 
upon a clay subsoil, favors the easiest and cheapest construction of 
a dirt resorvoir because with careful construction it can be made 
water tight without using other materials. Clay is disposed to leak 
through cracking and sand will neither hold shape nor water. Clay 
and clean sand, mixed, forms an ideal material. 

Fifth: The earth surface under both the pond and the banks 
must be thoroughly cleaned of all sods and trash and the whole 
area plowed and harrowed well to make it as fine as possible. The 
dirt should not be dumped on the old surface to start the bank. 
When the whole is plowed and harrowed the scraper can be started, 
moving the dirt from the center to the banks, and each scraper load 
should be spread and lumps broken with a shovel at once, leveling 
and filling hoof prints so that all tramping or pressure of the scraper 
in passing may tend toward even packing of the soil. All spots not 
reached by the team or tools should be tramped by the shoveler so 
that no loose dirt may be covered. This work should be continued 
all through the building. The harrow should follow the plow in the 
bottom before the scraper moves the dirt to the bank. 

Sixth : The outflow pipe should be put in early. A wooden 
box is often used having an interior space of six by six inches, 
but a four or six inch lap-welded steel or cast iron pipe is vastly 
better. It should have an elbow turned up on the inside so that 
a plug with a long handle can be used to open or close the exit. 
A valve is better than a plug, but it costs more. The pipe should 
be bedded in a mass of concrete so that it will not be loosened by 
working the outlet plug or valve. 

Seventh: The width of the embankment is governed by its 
height. The slopes with the best of earth should not be less than 
two feet horizontal to one foot vertical on the inside; and if the 
material is light, three to one on the outside will be none too much. 

Eighth: The bottom and inside of the reservoir banks should 
be well puddled. This is done by thorough plowing and harrowing 



BUILDING SMALL RESERVOIRS 47 

or cultivating to a depth of eight inches and then admitting water 
slowly and keeping the teams going with the harrow. Begin at the 
center and work round and round until the mud becomes as smooth 
as pancake batter, working and reworking away from the center 
until the puddle is carried well up the sloping bank. This puddle 
layer, if the soil is fitted for it, will make the pond hold water. 

A Small Reservoir in Sandy Soil. — The foregoing construction 
will not hold water if the materials are too coarse in character. 
Where percolation is free a water-tight covering for the bottom and 
banks must be provided. This can be done by hauling in clay for 
a puddle or the reservoir after shaping may be cemented. In parts 
of the state where asphaltum is abundant this material is very satis- 
factorily used, the asphaltum being melted, mixed with the sand and 
spread on hot and smooth down well with hot shovels and hoes. 

Cement can be used in the form of a mortar made of six parts 
sharp clean sand to one part Portland cement. Apply two coats, 
and then brush over with a whitewash of clear cement and water. 
It is not necessary to make walls of brick or stone on which to 
cement. Cement directly on the earth, even if it be sand or gravel, 
answers perfectly. As we have no earth-freezing such work is safe. 
If there should be cracks, give a coat of clear cement and water 
and it will close them up. But cracking should be prevented as far as 
possible by being sure that the earth is well settled before cementing. 

The use of clay puddle is also very satisfactory. The following 
is the plan of construction followed by Mr. Edward Berwick, of 
Carmel valley, Monterey county, in building a reservoir which stood 
thirty years of constant use : 

My reservoir is eighty feet in diameter and made on land with a slope of 
say one in forty. I drove a peg in for a center, took a forty-foot Hne and 
marked a circle. I dug a trench eighteen inches in width, say three feet deep 
where the land level was lowest and five feet where it was highest, so that 
the ditch bottom was level. I filled the ditch with puddled clay, well tamped, 
then excavated a width of perhaps ten feet, just inside the clay ring, to 
the level required for the reservoir bottom. I lined this ten feet of floor 
with clay, being careful to unite the clay of the ditch ring with this floor. 
Then began clearing out the middle of the reservoir and banking up on 
this ten-foot floor, and also on outside, at the same time adding clay to the 
ditch ring as the embankment grew. 

When the required excavation was made, cleared up well to the edge of 
the ten-foot wide floor, I put in the clay for the rest of the bottom, uniting it, 
of course, with the ten feet already laid, but now covered with the inner em- 
bankment. A three-inch discharge pipe was laid at the bottom, with neces- 
sary fittings. 

The reservoir is nearly seven feet deep when filled, and forms an excel- 
lent bathing tank for the family in addition to its irrigation service. 

This is a very thorough style of construction. It would be 
cheaper to excavate as described in the previous list of suggestions 
and then trust to a clay layer evenly spread over the bottom and 
sloping sides, but the use of the puddle trench and flat floor is surer 
to hold water. The puddle trench is carried to the top of the bank ; 



48 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

clay layering on the sloping bank will crack as the water is drawn 
down and is apt to be leaky. Mr. Berwick has scraped out a very 
rich deposit of mud and decayed leaves and water weed once since 
he built the reservoir, thus obtaining a considerable amount of 
fertilizer, and after scraping, the bottom was given a new floor of 
clay. He has also raised the sides of the reservoir one foot and put 
in exit pipes of four a:nd six inches to release water in different 
directions. 

Stone or Brick Walls for Reservoirs. — Very shapely but rather 
more expensive walls can, of course, be made of stone or brick laid 
in cement or of reinforced concrete, and in this way the water con- 
tents of the same diameter can be increased. The bottom can be 
puddled or clayed or cemented, according to the character of the 
ground or the taste of the builder. 

Subterranean Reservoirs. — Large shallow wells are often the 
cheapest reservoirs, and with pumps of large outflow sufficient 
head is secured for direct application to the distributing ditches. 
Tunnels are also subterranean reservoirs and are frequently used 
as such. Both these wells and tunnels are economical of water, as 
evaporation is very slight. The following is an instance. 

Mr. C. L. Durban says that the cheapest reservoir that a man can build 
on his land for retaining water for irrigation purposes is a tunnel run into a 
hill. An open reservoir in a caiion or other suitable place, will lose one- 
third of its water during the summer from evaporation, while in a tunnel 
there is no loss. A small spring will supply a tunnel with sufficient water 
for many purposes. He has illustrated this in a practical manner. On his 
own land at Mesilla valley, he run a tunnel thirty-five feet long into a hill, in 
so doing tapping a spring; this tunnel he dammed up, leaving a space thirty- 
five feet long and the size of the tunnel, which is about five feet by six 
feet, to be filled with water. He says that the tunnel is the cheapest and 
best form, and that for each dollar expended one can obtain a space equal 
to twenty-five cubic feet. 

Sub-irrigation by Trenches. — Another form of subterranean 
reservoir consists of trenches filled up to the plow-depth with broken 
rock. It is prodigiously expensive and seems only worthy of con- 
sideration in the improveinent of a hillside home place, where satis- 
faction is not conditioned upon cost. A California instance of the 
system is the following, found in Lassen county in the improvement 
of a homegarden : 

The grounds have too great a slope for spraying and instead of supply- 
ing surface ditches, the owner constructed permanent trenches, which have 
no outlet except by seepage. These trenches extend one hundred feet in 
length along the face of the slope, each being eighteen inches deep and thirty 
inches wide. The earth was scattered on the upper side of each cut, and by 
a little care in plowing the garden was terraced into slopes of less grade, 
each one hundred feet long, and twenty-eight feet wide. As a driveway 
passes along each end of the terrace, nearly all the cultivation is done by a 
horse turning on the driveways. 

The trenches are designed as miniature reservoirs, and are kept nearly 
full, when irrigation is required, by a small stream flowing from one-half- 
inch standpipes at one end of each trench. The ground is free from stone, 



WAYS TO IRRIGATE GARDENS 49 

friable and easily irrigated. These trenches proved quite sufficient to irri 
gate the garden in the long, dry summers of this region, and ground which 
would not mature white beans, rye, or buckwheat, produced heavy crops of 
sweet corn, tomatoes, peas, strawberries and all small fruits, asparagus, 
celery, potatoes, onions, melons, and, in short, the usual variety of first-class 
gardens. In the middle of the lower terraces, and occasionally about the 
grounds, are planted a few family fruit trees. 

The size of the stream filling each trench is incredibly small. By actual 
measurement, each trench is supplied by the flow of three quarts per minute ; 
each one of these streams thus irrigating a strip of land twenty-eight feet 
wide and one hundred feet long. 

THE APPLICATION OF WATER, 

Many methods are followed in the distribution of water in the 
garden. Which is the best method must be determined largely by 
the character of the soil, and to meet this requirement one must 
sometimes sacrifice some of the incidental advantages of other 
methods. 

A general statement of the simpler forms of garden irrigation 
as practiced in California by Prof. S. S. Rogers of the University 
Farm is as follows : 

"The smaller vegetables such as radishes, onions, lettuce, etc., are 
usually planted in beds about 10 by 20 feet, throwing a levee a few inches in 
height around it. These are flooded as often as necessary. As these tender 
vegetables are very liable to sunburn during the hot summer months the 
irrigation is usually done in the evening or early morning, for if the water 
was applied during the midday there would be considerable danger from 
burning the young plants. After the irrigation the soil should be watched 
very closely and as soon as it is sufficiently dry a thorough cultivation should 
be given. If this is deferred too long the ground will become so hard that 
it will be impossible to get a good mulch. When growing the larger vege- 
tables such as cabbage, peas, beans, potatoes, etc., the water should be ap- 
plied in furrows between the rows of plants. The earth should be cultivated 
when it is in the best possible condition, which can only be told by care- 
fully watching each field." 

Checks. — Where the garden soil is very light, open and leachy, 
the vegetables are often grown in checks or divisions larger or 
smaller, according to the slope of the land ; the checks being inclosed 
by little banks or levees which hold the water from escape except 
as it sinks vertically into the soil. This is the only way by which a 
leachy soil can be uniformly moistened, except by sprinkling, which 
is seldom economical and is seldom followed in California except 
in village garden practice. The banks of the checks serves as walks 
upon which one can go dry-shod from place to place and regulate 
the distribution of water. The garden, then, during irrigation, shows 
the plants growing in shallow vats of water of irregular shape and 
size and when the water sinks away they are seen to be in sunken 
beds. This system sadly interferes with the use of the horse in 
cultivation unless the ground is practically level and the checks can 
be made very large. In small checks the cultivation must be done 
by hand. Market gardeners do this faithfully but the amateur is 



50 



CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



apt to be careless about it and to trust to frequently filling the 
checks instead of regularly stirring the soil. This tends to cement 
the surface, exclude the air and make the soil sodden. The plants 
lose their free, healthy growth and show their distress. 

Raised Beds. — These are just the reverse of the check system 
for the ground surface is raised a little by the dirt thrown out in 
excavating narrow ditches about four or five feet apart through 
which the water is allowed to flow slowly if the ground is nearly 
level; if slightly sloping, small dams are made at such distances 
apart as are necessary to hold the water at about uniform depth 
below the surfaces of the beds. In this system the distribution of the 
water is very largely accomplished by the capillarity of the soil, 
though the market gardeners who affect this method also shower 










y-^y^^^^r:i^:'''ffV?i>P'^fS< 



Depressed Beds and Irrigation Systet 







Raised Beds or Ridges Irrigated by Capillarity. 

the plants from time to time by throwing the water up from the 
ditch with a scoop shovel or a shallow pan. The narrow ditches 
serve as walks in working around the beds and rubber boots are in 
request. By this system ample water supplies are constantly had 
within reach of the roots and as the surface is never puddled it is 
easy to keep it loose and open to the air. When the crop is gathered 
the whole field is deeply broken up with the plow and harrow and 
the whole system laid out anew, as soon as, in the course of rotation, 
a crop requiring such hydropathic treatment comes again to the 
ground. 



PLANTING ON CONTOUR DITCHES 



51 




/^ 



t- 




Spirit level on frame, to make easy the laying out of 
contour irrigation. 

Permanent Ditches. — The use of permanent ditches was for- 
merly very common in the irrigation of sloping garden ground and 
is still somewhat observed. These ditches are drawn very nearly 
on contour lines, only just enough fall being given to move the 
water slowly. When the slope is nearly uniform the ditches are 
almost parallel and they are distanced according to what is known 
of the movement of water by seepage down the slope in each par- 
ticular soil. The plantings are made on the plan of each strip 
securing its moisture from the ditch above and water is admitted 
occasionally or kept running almost continuously according to the 
needs of the particular crop or the leakiness of the ditch. The out- 
flow from the ditch, after traversing backward and forward its full 
length, is carried to an alfalfa patch below and thus utilized. These 
permanent ditches serve a good purpose in saving hillsides from 
washing as they catch the surface storm water before it has a chance 
to acquire much headway and carry it down gently. Where the 
soil favors such distribution very good results are attained with 
these ditches, but the tendency is to use the ditches too long and 
allow them to become cemented by action of water and deposit of 
slime. Besides they grow weeds and distribute seeds if their banks 
are neglected. 

Small Zigzag Method on a Slope. — Contour ditches for single 
rows of vegetables have satisfied H. L. Wolfsen of Colfax, Placer 
county, who gives this advice : 

After the soil is prepared, stakes should be placed where the contour 
ditch will be made. To do this, a carpenter's level is fastened to a board 
which has two legs of equal length. A half-inch is then added to the foot 
of one leg which will insure the right amount of fall to the ditch. 

Contour so as to wind back and forth down the slope. It will depend 
upon the kind of vegetables grown how far the ditches should be apart. At 
the turns, which will be quite steep, stones may be placed to prevent washing. 
The ditches should not be more than twenty or thirty feet long before they 
turn, or else the rows will be too far apart. The amount of water to irri- 
gate with will determine how far the patch should extend. 

When the ditch is being made, scrape the upper edge smooth, placing 
all of the soil which is taken out on the lower side and smoothing it, ready 
for the seeds, or young plants from the hot-beds. Water should be run in 
the ditch in a moderately large stream at first until it reaches the end of the 
ditch, and then in a small stream until the moisture shows past the seed row 
or small plants. Then the water can be stopped and at the proper time 
cultivate the lower side of the ditch with a rake. The top of the rows will 



52 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

not need to be cultivated unless the water has been on too long and made 
the soil soggy. Once the garden is made it is very little work to keep in a 
tip-top condition. 

Lowland Irrigation by Seepage. — Another form of irrigation 
by means of permanent ditches is that practiced on reclaimed lands 
along the interior rivers. When the rivers are swollen from sum- 
mer melting of snow in the high Sierra, the water is brought to the 
land by flood-gates in the levees. When the rivers are low very 
capacious pumping plants are used — the same serving at other times 
to drain the lands when they are too wet from the rainfall or seep- 
age. The soils of these reclaimed lands is loose and prone to dry 
out because of their lack of capillarity, so that at times irrigation is 
as necessary as on uplands. The water is distributed by means of 
small, rather deep, ditches from which moisture readily extends as 
the water moves out over the clay bottom which underlies most of 
these lands and makes it possible to hold the water up within reach 
of the roots of the plants. With rich land, high heat and ample 
moisture just below the surface the growth is almost marvelous. 
On these lowlands flooding the surface frequently seriously injures 
the plants by sun scald. 

Ridge System of Irrigating and Planting. — Another plan of 
using seepage from permanent ditches is the ridge system by which 
the water is run at a little elevation above the surface, upright 
plants being placed beside the water on the top of the ridges and 
running plants on the side of the ridges with the lower ground 
between the ridges for the extension of their growth. The general 
significance of the arrangement lies in keeping the water supply 
constant near the roots, and it is adapted to rather open soils in 
which lateral percolation is deficient. The elevation of the ditch 
thus helps to hold moisture near the surface on which the plants 
are placed without resorting to flooding as in the check system. It 
is obviously well adapted to a region of very light rainfall and can 
be laid out in a way to drain the ridges when surplus water has to 
be disposed of. It involves a large amount of hand work. In a 
locality where both summer and winter gardening must be largely 
dependent upon irrigation it has striking advantages. The follow- 
ing description is from a Kern county vegetable grower," who speaks 
from five years' satisfactory experience with the method : 

In preparing the ground make it as near level as possible, and cover the 
soil with about two inches of manure (avoid coarse straw or stalks), and 
plow this under six to eight inches deep. Then harrow and cultivate until 
the soil is smooth and fine. Use a wire or line to lay out the ground ; spread 
fine manure (well rotted is preferable) two feet wide and one inch thick, on 
a line directly from your windmill or tank across the plat of ground. Take 
a plow and turn two furrows together directly over the manure, making a 
high ridge. Smooth and firm the soil with a rake or hoe, and directly on 
top and lengthwise of the ridge form a ditch or trough about five inches 
wide and three inches deep, on a grade so the water will run from one end 

" F. M. Reynolds, Delano. 



WAYS TO USE WATER 53 

of the ridge to the other, connecting the ends so that the water will run the 
entire length of all the ridges without any attention; or you can make the 
ridges around the plat, which will enable you to distribute the water from 
the ridge to any point desired by means of a small piece of pipe inserted in 
the edge of the trough, always maintaining a uniformity of moisture, which 
is absolutely necessary for the growth of certain vegetables. Run the water 
through the ditch until it is settled and well moistened, then plant the seed 
at the base and on either side of the ridge. 

Do not allow the water to rise up over the beds under any circumstances. 
If the work is properly done the water will run through the ditches in the 
high ridges and from their termination will continue from one trench to 
another, till each bed in the plat is nicely moistened, and after once thor- 
oughly wet and settled it will not require more than one-half of the water it 
does at first, unless the soil is very sandy and loose. Remember it is the 
small stream long drawn out that counts and gives the best results. 

Practice with This System. — Concerning practice with the dif- 
ferent vegetables and the preparation of ridges and beds for them, 
Mr. Reynolds gives the following suggestions : 

Plant melons and winter squash seven feet apart on the sides of the 
ridges, which should be eight feet apart for these varieties, and about five feet 
apart for corn, beans, summer crook-neck squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. 
After preparing the ground and planting the seed neither the ditch nor plants 
will require much attention more than to keep the weeds out. For the 
growth of other vegetables, such as peas, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, pars- 
nips, radish, beets, lettuce, asparagus, egg plant, spinach, peppers, onions, 
garlic, rhubarb, and tomato plants, prepare the ground by forming it into beds 
fourteen inches wide and two inches higher in the center than on either 
ridge, with a small trench between them six inches wide and three inches 
deep. They can be made wider and deeper if a large amount of water is 
available. After the beds are prepared run the water through them and 
recrossing the beds that are defective, so the water will rise to a uniform 
height on each, within about one inch of the top. Make a depression on 
each side of the bed two and one-half inches from the edge with a hoe and 
one and one-half inches deep. Sow the seed not less than one-half inch 
apart and be very careful not to cover the seed more than one-half inch 
deep. Every good seed will grow, and those which are to remain in the rows 
must be properly thinned out. When tomato plants are from three to five 
inches tall, transplant them on either side of the high ridges, five feet apart 
in the row. Transplant cabbage and egg plants when they are from two to 
three inches tall, in vacant beds, the former eighteen inches apart in the row 
for early and close heading varieties, and twenty-eight inches apart for late 
and spreading varieties, and egg plants twenty- four inches apart in the row. 
A pint of fine manure from the cow-yard placed six inches below the surface 
under each plant will insure a cabljage from nearly every plant. Pepper 
plants should be transplanted eighteen inches apart in the row. 

Picturesque Irrigation. — A modification of the permanent ditch 
plan is quite widely practiced on the sand hills south of San Fran- 
cisco. The water is lifted from wells by windmills, the discharge 
from the pump being taken at such elevation that it will flow in a 
small flume supported by a trestle to the highest point of the land 
to be irrigated. Hence the water is carried in small contour ditches 
hither and thither until every corner of the very irregular slopes is 
reached. Short lines of vegetables are planted about at right angles 
to these small permanent ditches and short spurs made with the 
hoe so that the water is brought beside each individual plant. As 



54 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the slope is so broken and the soil so open, anything like uniform 
seepage is out of the question. The appearance of these gardens is 
exceedingly picturesque with the little beds tucked in here and there, 
showing varying shades of green on miniature terraces and slopes 
and flats irregularly intermingled often within the area of an acre 
or two — the lines of the mill frame and flume trestle so thin and 
long and intercrossed as to suggest that a colossal spider had spun 
her web upon the verdure. All this is hand work and back work 
in cultivation and irrigation, in carrying manure up and produce 
down, and represents a fragment of the south of Europe cast upon 
the map of California. 

Small Furrow Distribution. — All the foregoing methods of dis- 
tribution may suggest something for the American farm garden in 
California providing the soil and situation are best served in such 
ways, but for the most part the farm garden will be upon land of 
moderate slope with loams which take water well and are fairly 
retentive of it. Under such circumstances the distribution of water 
in many small streams along furrows drawn by a small plow, ac- 
complishing complete moistening without flooding of the surface, 
is the system to be adopted and conscientiously practiced. It is 
most economical of water not only in the first application but by 
conservation of its moisture by the thorough surface cultivation 
which must follow each irrigation. Water is carried along the 
ridge or ridges of the tract in a plank flume, of dimensions propor- 
tional to the size of the area to be irrigated, and with many open- 
ings, to be closed or opened at pleasure, so that small streams of 
water can be brought out into many small furrows and allowed to 
proceed slowly until they reach the bottom where the surplus may 
be caught in a cross-furrow and carried to other uses. By this 
method the water can be evenly distributed with hardly a stroke 
of hand work and the soil, with its surface always open to access of 
air, and never allowed to compact itself around the plants, affords 
conditions perfectly adapted to thrifty, quick growth of the plants. 
This method conforms best with the most economical laying off of 
the farm garden, which will be urged later from other points of 
view, viz. : the planting in long rows with uniform interspaces so 
that horse-power and the best implements can be employed to their 
fullest extent in every operation from the seed planting to the 
gathering of the crop. 

Furrow Irrigation on Hillsides. — It is often desirable to make 
the farm garden on a hillside and this can be managed by horse 
work without terracing more easily than one might think at first. 
The plan must be to work nearly on contour lines in laying out the 
rows of vegetables and in the subsequent cultivation and irrigation. 
The following will be found suggestive in regard to the distribution 
of water: 

The water is delivered from a flume laid down the hillside, and fitted 
with cleats at each hole so as to throw of? enough water at the sides, or 



SPRINKLING AND SUB-IRRIGATION 55 

sometimes tlie flume is laid in steps connected with a bit of covered flume 
from step to step. The latter is best for very steep hills, though, with care, 
the other may be used on a greater slope than one would imagine. Another 
flume should be laid at the end of the furrows to carry off the waste water. 

The contours may be laid out by anyone with a carpenter's common 
level. Fifty-tive feet to the mile is nearly right for a very fine stream on 
most soils. And this is about one foot in ninety-six, or two inches in sixteen 
feet. Therefore take a sixteen-foot plank and level it to a slope of two 
inches in its whole length. Then when the upper edge of this is level the 
lower edge will represent the required grade for your ditch. In this way the 
work can be done very rapidly. 

The same thing is equally good for laying common little flumes, cement 
ditches, etc. But in earth, one should determine by trial the amount of slope 
the soil will stand without cutting or filling up with sediment or refusing to 
run fast enough in case the soil is very porous. A mistake of a few inches 
in a hundred feet will generally not be serious, but the more nearly exact you 
can get it the better. Every approach to perfection in your first arrange- 
ments diminishes your future work and annoyance. 

All manner of stuff is now raised in this way in California on hillsides 
that a few years ago, when covered with brush, seemed too steep and rough 
even to plow. When once made the furrows, of course, are left in place but 
the water finds its way to the center between them quite as well as on more 
level ground. 

Irrigation by Sprinkling. — Systems of iron pipe laid below 
reach of plow and spade and furnished with stand pipes and revolv- 
ing sprinklers, or other showering devices, have been successfully 
used to a limited extent, and some have strongly favored them in 
spite of the considerable cost of the outfit. They are worthy of 
consideration where water under adequate pressure is avialable. 
They are labor-saving, but they encourage neglect of cultivation, 
and to that extent are undesirable, especially on soils which harden 
on drying. But surface crusting is obviated by using a very fine 
spray and on some soils is not likely to occur even with coarse 
sprinkling. 

Sub-irrigation by Tile or Pipes. — Californians have been ex- 
perimenting with subterranean distribution with tile or specially 
constructed pipes and outlets for probably more than forty years 
and yet none of the proposed systems have ever come into use ex- 
cept under the eye of the inventor. In early days iron troughs 
inverted on redwood boards ; small flumes or boxes of redwood 
boards ; brick set on edge and covered with boards ; drain tile with 
and without perforations — all these were suggested, given trial and 
abandoned. All experiments proceeded upon the plan of thus 
making permanent water conduits below the point reached in spad- 
ing or plowing, and they all became inoperative. The failure was 
usually charged to the filling of the pipes with plant roots and in 
some cases this was seen to be the reason. In other cases the failure 
of the system was due to the fact that in light soils lacking capil- 
larity, the water rapidly sank away from the pipes out of the reach 
of the roots and shallow rooting plants failed though there was 
moisture flowing to waste through a pervious subsoil. Mr. E. M. 
Hamilton of East Los Angeles invented a system of continuous 



56 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

cement pipes laid by a machine operating in the trench which pre- 
vented access of roots because it had openings only at intervals 
where the water was discharged into air spaces each of which could 
be seen through a vertical pipe rising to the surface and furnished 
with a cover. This has worked well for many years on Mr. Hamil- 
ton's place for the irrigation of trees or other deep rooting plants 
at considerable distances apart, for which use it seems best suited. 
To fill the earth with such pipes with openings near enough together 
to serve for shallow rooting vegetables, is appallingly expensive, 
and the stand pipes cumber the surface so that nothing but hand 
spading or cultivating could be done without destruction of them. 
It would be cheaper and better to pipe the ground with iron pipes 
and brass faucets even though the theoretical advantage of subter- 
ranean application had to be abandoned. 

At the East within a few years the use of the drain tile laid 
along the rows of vegetables near the surface has given the best 
results in an experimental way. By this plan the tile are to be taken 
up and relaid for each crop, which can be quickly done. Water 
thus administered may serve well in soil not disposed to puddle 
down or possibly may be more successful where the summer air is 
less dry and soil baking less active than in California, but in many 
of our garden soils the soil would solidify, and even if moisture 
were adequate to prevent baking, the proper entrance of air would 
be largely prevented. On the other hand, in coarse soils water 
applied underground would quickly pass out of reach of shallow 
rooting plants. 

The experience of Californians is against any such arrange- 
ment of soil and water. Except in such soils as have already been 
described as working well by seepage systems, surface application 
of water followed by thorough surface cultivation, produces as a 
rule the best combination of moisture, heat, aeration and rapid root- 
extension, which pushes the plant to its utmost in rapid and satis- 
factory growth. 

WINTER IRRIGATION. 

Winter irrigation is increasing in California as a surety that 
the year's water supply will be above a certain minimum. Decidu- 
ous trees and vines, on soil that is fairly retentive, can be carried 
through a satisfactory year's growth and fruiting with good culti- 
vation, by artificially soaking the soil in winter. In this way injury 
to the trees or vines by a year of scant rainfall is avoided. The 
practice has not the same value in garden practice because there 
still will remain the demand for summer irrigation if succession of 
fresh vegetables is to be secured. But for ample crops of staple 
field vegetables which are usually grown without summer irriga- 
tion, the winter soaking method is of the same importance that it 
is with fruit trees — it insures ample moisture every year. 




4' 










-*•' 



-^] 



4.'if^. /^lii^ 




Cl, 




> 



WARM WATER DESIRABLE 57 

Fall and winter irrigation are very important in gardening in 
regions of uncertain rainfall because they bring the soil into condi- 
tion for the early planting which is often the secret of satisfaction 
and success. In southern California and the interior of the central 
regions of the state as well, he who waits for rainfall to start his 
gardening often loses half the season's producing capacity. In 
parts of the state the rain at its maximum is seldom excessive, con- 
sequently one incurs no danger, but invites every benefit by wetting 
the soil well and going to work at least with the hardier vegetables 
while the autumn sunshine still imparts warmth to the soil. 

The use of winter storm water often results in a considerable 
contribution to the fertility of the soil in the form of silt and other 
materials rich in plant food. 

TEMPERATURE OF IRRIGATION WATER. 

It is a fact of common observation that a considerable amount 
of water either from cold rains or from cold irrigation water may 
cause a "shock" to a growing plant and interfere with its normal 
development. This fact is accounted for by Professor Hilgard in 
this way: 

Since the capacity of water for heat is approximately five times greater 
than that of the average soil, equal weights being considered, it follows that 
the temperature of the soil water must exert a controlling influence over that 
of the soil. It is not surprising, then, that the occurrence of cold or warm 
rains or the use of cold or warm irrigation water, at a critical period, may 
largely determine the success or failure of a crop. 

It is therefore often essential that cold water from a well or 
stream often needs exposure to the sun in a reservoir, or by run- 
ning a distance in a shallow ditch or furrow, before reaching the 
roots of the plant. No temperature gained by such exposure need 
be considered too high. 

This fact, however, has sometimes induced too great expecta- 
tions from the use of hot water from springs or wells for forcing 
early vegetables. Warm air is essential to free aerial growth of the 
plant. 

HOW MUCH IRRIGATION IS NEEDED. 

It is impossible to answer this question exactly for any crop, 
but it can be approximated more nearly for an orchard or vineyard 
or a field crop than for a garden which should be held up to its 
maximum of free water nearly all the time. Evidently the require- 
ment for gardening is greater than for any other cropping. How 
much water will be required to hold any piece of land up to its best 
estate of moisture, depends upon the plant grown, the soil and sub- 
soil, the slope and exposure, the local heat and dryness of the air, 
the rainfall, etc. The quantity can, then, only be determined for 
each piece of ground with the data of its conditions and environ- 



58 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

merit, and the observing man will allow the plants to tell him by 
their vigor and speed of growth how the supply suits them. 

It is possible to tell how much water will bring a certain depth 
of soil into the best condition for growth and working. With this 
knowledge the gardener can more rationally follow the results of 
his observation of the plants themselves. The following are the 
conclusions of the late Professor F. H. King from very careful 
investigation and experiment : 

The maximum capacity of upland field soils for water ranges from about 
eighteen per cent of their dry weight for the light sandy types to about thirty 
per cent for the heavy clayey varieties, while the amounts of water these 
soils should contain in order that plants may thrive in them best is from 
twelve to fourteen per cent for the former and from eighteen to twenty per 
cent for the latter. The growth of plants will be seriously checked in sandy 
soils when the water content falls below eight per cent, and in heavy, clayey 
types when it falls below fourteen per cent of the dry weight of the soil. 

The dry weight of a light sandy soil and subsoil will average about one 
hundred and five pounds per cubic foot, and the heavy clayey type about 
eighty pounds per cubic foot. Hence the maximum amount of water per 
cubic foot of soil would be about twenty- four pounds for the clay and eighteen 
and nine-tenths pounds for the sand. This being true, four and six-tenths 
inches of water on the level would completely saturate the surface foot of 
heavy clay soil, were it entirely dry to begin with, while three and six-tenths 
inches would place the sandy soil in a similar condition. 

But since water should be applied as soon as the water content of the 
sandy soil falls to eight per cent and that of the clayey soil to fourteen per 
cent, it follows that under these conditions ten and five-tenths pounds of 
water, or two inches, is the maximum amount which would be needed to 
fill the surface foot of sandy soil and twelve and eight-tenths pounds, or two 
and forty-six one-hundredths inches, is enough to fill the surface foot of 
clay soil. 

If we consider the second foot of soil to have been dried out to a cor- 
responding extent, and that it is desirable to saturate this with water also, 
then the amounts just stated would need to be doubled, four inches being 
demanded for the sandy soil and four and ninety-two one-hundredths inches 
for the clayey soil. It is quite certain, however, that such an application of 
water to a field at one time would result in the percolation of a considerable 
amount of this water below the depth of root action, and hence in a con- 
siderable loss of it unless a large crop were growing upon the land at the 
time. It appears, therefore, that the amounts of water which may be applied 
to a field at one time will lie between two and five inches in depth over its 
whole surface. 

How often this watering may need to be repeated it is not possible to 
state in anything like definite terms, but practical experience shows that as 
a rough average the intervals between watering where maximum yields are 
sought cannot much exceed seven to fourteen days, the time being shortest 
when the crop is making its most vigorous growth. 

This account is useful as showing how much the soil may be 
expected to hold, consequently the maximum to be considered in 
application. The times of repetition naturally have to be indefinite 
because rates of evaporation and leaching are so variable. If the 
reader should get the idea from these calculations that he ought to 
have a generous water supply for the best summer growth of vege- 
tables, he will start right at least. He will soon learn how to use 
the water to the best advantage. 



PLENTY OF WATER DESIRABLE 59 

Adequate Use of Water Essential. — Beyond any theoretical 
computation of the amount of water needed it is one of the plainest 
teachings of California experience that good, thorough soaking of 
the ground is the secret of satisfactory results. Surface sprinkling 
without penetration is a delusion even in lawn growing. It gives 
the impression of moisture when the roots of the plant may be fam- 
ishing in dry ground. Pouring on water from a watering pot, 
though it be once every day, will make a brick to enclose the plant 
stem and roots if the soil be prone to bake. On larger scale work 
it has been fully demonstrated that for productiveness a small piece 
of ground thoroughly soaked with water and then as thoroughly 
cultivated on the surface to kill weeds and prevent the waste of 
moisture into the air by evaporation, is preferable to twice the sur- 
face only half watered. One very thorough wetting, with good 
cultivation, will produce better results than several superficial water- 
ings. And in this way the water can be used the most econom- 
ically by accomplishing the most good with the least labor. 

Another very important point is to keep the moisture supply 
always adequate. One who waits till the plants show distress has 
lost his chance. One of our experienced growers very pertinently 
says : "If we allow our ground to get the least bit dry the vege- 
tables are stunted in growth, and then it takes several days to catch 
up again if it ever does. I hold that a stunted vegetable is as bad 
as a stunted calf or pig. It is never as good as if it was pushed 
right along from the beginning." 

Besides, it should always be remembered that the edible plants 
we call "vegetables" must generally be crisp, or tender in tissue, 
and juicy. Both qualities are promoted by quick growth and quick 
growth depends upon ample soil moisture. And yet excessive use 
of water must be guarded against. Professor S. S. Rogers truly 
says: 

Where water is easy to obtain the tendency of many growers is to over- 
irrigate, not relying upon good thorough cultivation for retaining the moist- 
ure. Overirrigation tends to produce vegetables of more or less inferior 
quality, and one of the greatest dangers lies in the packing of the soil 
immediately about the plants, especially where the soil is of a heavy nature. 
It is better to irrigate seldom and cultivate often and thoroughly than to 
irrigate frequently and cultivate seldom. 

RELATION OF IRRIGATION TO SOIL FERTILITY. 

And it must also be borne in mind that adequate moisture 
must always be accompanied by adequate supplies of plant food in 
the soil. The gardener who keeps his soil rich gets the greatest 
return from the water he uses, and attention must be paid to the 
suggestions in the chapter on Fertilization. This has always been 
demonstrated by experience, and an interesting measure of the fact 
has been deduced from experiinentation by Dr. J. A. Widtsoe of the 
Utah Agricultural College. Pie shows that a given amount of moist- 



60 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

ure will produce at least 30 per cent more crop on rich soils than on 
poor ones, and the crop grown on the rich soil will contain at least 
45 per cent more food value than that grown on the poor one. In 
other words, the moisture that would produce 100 pounds of crop 
on a poor soil would produce at least 130 pounds on a rich soil, and 
the crop raised on the rich soil would contain on an average 45 per 
cent more protein, which would still further increase the food value 
of the crop grown on the rich soil to the equivalent of 188 pounds 
grown on poor soil; almost twice as much food value on the rich 
soil as on the poor one from the same amount of moisture. Then 
again the rich soil will hold more moisture, and if there is plenty of 
moisture the rich soil can grow two or three times as much crop as 
the poor soil and with a food value that is higher. 



CHAPTER VI. 
GARDEN DRAINAGE IN CALIFORNIA. 

It may be remarked, as a generalization based upon a wide 
view of our two-season year, that the secret of success in CaHfornia 
vegetable growing consists in getting plants "out of the wet" at 
one time and into it at another. It would, perhaps, be more exact 
to say that success lies in securing generous but not excessive moist- 
ure at all times, and this is essential to the best growth of the plant 
in any climate. And yet so strikingly antithetical are our moisture- 
extremes at the heights of the two seasons, and so characteristic, 
both in times and methods, are the policies and practices by which 
we modify both to the best advantage, that the world-wide princi- 
ples to which they conform are out of sight of the casual observer. 
For it is not only that we have always to guard against extremes of 
saturation and aridity and keep the plant along the lines of suffi- 
ciency — that is the universal proposition. In addition to this Cali- 
fornia, speaking generally, has to do special work against one ex- 
treme at one time and against the other extreme at another time; 
hence the opening remark. 

Regulation of moisture in California either involves more con- 
siderations than are usually recognized in humid climates or in- 
volves them in higher degree and imputes to them increased signifi- 
cance. Choice of location and soil ; time and method of planting and 
cultivation ; the choice of the crop with reference to natural moist- 
ure supply and the atmospheric conditions ; the employment of irri- 
gation ; and the desirability, or otherwise, of artificial drainage facili- 
ties — all these are factors which are perhaps more sharply concerned 
in results here than in humid climates, because our extremes, in all 
except low temperatures, are more exacting. Correct practice here 
gives grand results, but ill-timed or illy adapted practice does not 
give merely less satisfactory results : it may invite failure. Our 
drainage proposition must always be conditioned upon proper con- 
servation of moisture, and as will be seen as we proceed with the 
discussion, contemplated artificial drainage may have the power to 
make or ruin a crop if its action is not intelligently employed, or 
intelligently rejected, as the case may require. 

Benefits of Drainage. — It may be admitted at the outset that 
in regions of heavy rainfall or in locations subject to much percola- 
tion from higher lands, underdrainage may be necessary to satis- 
factory use of the land in winter gardening unless the soil is deep 
and free enough to readily dispose of the surplus water. As a 
matter of fact, it is necessary in some cases, and gratifying results 
follow in lowering the ground water, admitting air, warming the 

[61] 



62 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

soil, making it hospitable to the plant, rendering fertility available 
and lengthening the growing season of the plant both by these 
services and by making the soil sooner amenable to tillage and sus- 
ceptible of better tilth. All these are general drainage principles 
applicable here as elsewhere and in some soils and situations the 
same method of application is best, viz, : thorough under-drainage 
preferably with tile, but also attainable with trenches partly filled 
with rock, or with regular runways with placed stones or poles or 
boards or whatever may be most available to the person at the 
time. In drainage for garden purposes, however, it is not neces- 
sary that the water table should be lowered as far as is essential 
to the satisfactory growth of trees, nor is it desirable generally that 
it should be. Tile laid two feet from the surface will answer in 
many cases if the land lies well for the outflow of the drainage. 

Conserving Moisture. — The general purpose in California gar- 
dening must be to save moisture, not to facilitate its escape. It is 
especially important in an arid country that the lower strata of the 
soil should be a storage reservoir for the use of the plant in the dry 
season. This fact underlies the recommendations for cultivation 
which will be given in a later chapter, but it also has intimate rela- 
tions with the subject of drainage. Evidently recourse to drainage 
should not endanger the generously adequate moisture supply which 
the plant needs, and for this reason the almost universal exhortation 
in gardening treatises for humid climates: "first of all deeply drain 
your soil," either subjects the trusting Californian to a useless ex- 
pense or, worse than that, makes his land less suited to his purpose 
than it was before the expenditure was made. 

For it should be noted : first, that our light deep loams which 
are chiefly used for garden purposes, can naturally dispose of all 
the surplus water which the clouds afiford them ; second, our heavier 
soils sometimes make a great surface show of saturation when the 
lower layers have really far less than their holding capacity, because 
percolation is slow, not only by nature of the soil but by the lack of 
thorough tillage which would help to hold a large precipitation 
until the soil cold absorb it; third, our soils dispose of moisture 
very rapidly during the dry intervals of the rainy season, and this 
can be increased by winter cultivation which should not aim to fine 
the surface but to open it to the air ; fourth, by their active winter 
growth, the plants themselves pump from the surface layer volumes 
of water, the escape of which opens the way for capillarity to re- 
lieve lower layers of their surplus, and thus the active roots help to 
prepare the way for their own further extension. 

Really, then, what California soils need for winter garden pur- 
poses in natural surface drainage, viz., downward into thirsty lower 
layers ; upward into the air by evaporation from earth-surfaces or 
plant-surfaces. Where this is not adequate to the relief of surface 
saturation and consequent preparation for seed sowing, very simple 
artificial surface drainage is usually effective. This can be mainly 



WHEN DRAINAGE IS DESIRABLE 63 

accomplished with the plow, first by opening drainage furrows at 
proper intervals, and this is often all that is needed to dispose of 
surplus water; second, by ridging with the plow which prepares 
long seed beds a little above the general surface and at the same 
time leaves channels for the escape of the water; third, by opening 
deeper surface-drains to act directly or to receive and speed the 
departure of the outflow from the open furrows. All of these forms 
of treatment, selected according to the degree of the need of drain- 
age, have proved widely satisfactory and have facilitated magnifi- 
cent winter growth of vegetables upon heavy adobe soils in some 
of our regions of heaviest winter rains. The action is quicker than 
underdraining because percolation is notably slow in such soil. It 
removes the surplus from the surface just at the time its absence 
is most desirable and it leaves the moisture stored below to rise as 
the demand for it advances. On the other hand underdrainage, 
where it is not imperatively demanded by exceptional conditions, has 
clearly acted too slowly to bring the surface speedily into satis- 
factory condition and has acted too long in drawing away more 
water than desirable from below and has then continued as a very 
effective hot-air system for further drying of soil-substance which 
should have retained more moisture to supply the plant and foster 
capillary action from still lower layers. In the writer's own ex- 
perience shallow-rooting plants have dwindled over tile lines while 
those midway between the lines were growing rapidly. 

Conditions Determining Recourse to Underdrainage. — It may 
be well to specify a few of the conditions which should determine 
whether underdrainage should be provided in land under considera- 
tion for vegetable growing. Of course the claim already alluded 
to, that any piece of soil selected for gardening must be first under- 
drained, is an exaggeration anywhere in the world probably, because 
there are areas of naturally well-drained soil everywhere. Enough 
has been said of California garden soils to show that the most of 
them are of this character and that no probable amount of rainfall 
would injure them. The exception has also been sufficiently char- 
acterized in the chapter on soils. 

To reach assurance for or against underdrainage in particular 
cases one has to consider the soil, the rainfall, the character of the 
root growth to be ministered to, the growing season of the crop and 
the practice of irrigation. 

The mere amount of rainfall is so intimately related to soil 
texture, depth, subsoil, slope and exposure that, considered alone, 
it affords no guide whatever to the need of artificial drainage. 
There are many situations receiving an annual rainfall of forty to 
sixty inches which not only do not need underdrainage but, on the 
other hand, irrigation must be employed as early as May to supply 
the requirements of shallow-rooting plants. These are either coarse 
leachy soils or else shallow loams lying upon sloping and porous 
bed-rock. Leaving these out of consideration it is doubtful whether 



64 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

any land, even of quite retentive character, receiving a rainfall of 
not more than twenty-five inches, distributed as California rainfall 
usually is, needs underdrainage for garden purposes. Of course 
this claim clearly presupposes that the land in question does not 
receive any considerable amount of water by overflow or underflow 
by seepage from higher land. Any such rainfall as noted can prob- 
ably be controlled by such surface use or surface release as has 
already been described, or by such early and deep cultivation as the 
garden should receive, there can be stored in the soil the moderate 
residuum remaining from the amount of rainfall indicated, and 
under favorable circumstances a greater rainfall can be thus dis- 
posed of. 

Deep rooting plants like fruit trees will, of course, be injured 
by saturation of the subsoil which would not injure garden vege- 
tables, therefore underdrainage of the orchard is a different propo- 
sition from that of the garden. It should be stated for the distant 
reader that the term garden in California is not understood to in- 
clude fruit trees, except in villages or suburban places. 

The growing season of the vegetable crop is also related to 
the matter of underdrainage. While the winter garden on a re- 
tentive soil in a region of quite large rainfall, may be greatly im- 
proved by underdrainage, the summer growth of the same plants 
perhaps, and of field crops of shallow rooting vegetables, may be 
benefited by such surface treatment during the winter as shall pro- 
mote the absorption and retention of the whole rainfall in the soil 
and subsoil. This practice may insure the perfection of a crop 
without irrigation which could not be grown on a less retentive soil 
nor on one currently drained of its surplus water. 

The practice of irrigation may create a need for underdrain- 
age which may not exist on land used for rainfall-gardening. If 
the soil is naturally well drained this need will not, however, occur 
unless the natural escape of surplus water has been destroyed by 
rise of the bottom water which has, in some large districts in Cali- 
fornia followed excessive irrigation, and the seepage of water from 
leaky ditches. Especially unfortunate, too, has it been that this rise 
of the ground water has brought within reach of capillary action 
and surface evaporation, alkaline salts which are destructive to vege- 
tation. But here again the growth of vegetables can be success- 
fully pursued on lands with water too near the surface to favor fruit 
trees, providing the rise of alkali does not occur. For the growth of 
vegetables, then, it is not generally imperative that the land be under- 
drained even if irrigation is practiced though there are cases of 
retentive soils in which this is desirable. In irrigation in a humid 
climate where a heavy downfall of rain may immediately follow a 
saturation by irrigation, underdrainage is a safeguard. California 
with a rainless summer, is freed from this danger. 

Too great emphasis, even to indulgence in repetition, can hardly 
be placed upon the point of view held in this work. We are 




Q 



DRAINAGE OR IRRIGATION 65 

dealing for the most part with plants which are used before matur- 
ity and in which large free growth of foliage, stem and seed vessel 
are the points desired and not mature seed. Most of these plants 
are also shallow-rooted and are concerned in the lower layers of 
soil not as a place for root-activity, but rather as a reservoir of 
moisture and a storehouse of plant food which shall come to them 
dissolved in the upward movement of abundant water. Conse- 
quently these plants do not require the degree of soil dryness which 
best ministers to maturing processes nor do they need such deep 
penetration of air as is needed to make subsoils hospitable for deep- 
rooting plants. They are plants, too, which need the maximum per- 
centages of moisture, which their nature demands, to secure the 
quick growth and succulence which makes them delicious and profit- 
able, as already stated in the preceding chapter. For all these rea- 
sons, the view of underdrainage here presented is somewhat at vari- 
ance with orthodox drainage tenets held in humid climates and is 
also widely diverse from views which the writer holds with refer- 
ence to the drainage requirements of fruit trees. But there are, of 
course, some situations in which water may accumulate to satura- 
tion, rendering the soil cold and water-logged. In such cases drain- 
age is indispensable for early planting to get growth well started or 
complete in the rainy season, but the opposite may be true of the 
same situation and soil if desired for late planting and growth in 
the dry season. 



CHAPTER VII. 
CULTIVATION. 

The timely and thorough performance of the several acts 
which, in accordance with the prevailing local conditions, constitute 
good tillage, are indispensable to success in California vegetable 
growing. No matter how favorable the natural conditions or how 
generous the other provisions made by the grower, to be dilatory 
or slack in cultivation is to seriously endanger, if not to actually 
forfeit, the final reward. 

The American pioneers were quick to see that the energetic 
use of the good tools to which they had been trained in their old 
homes would bring marvelous production from lands previously 
held at grazing value, and, beginning with this assurance, they pro- 
ceeded by lessons of observation and experience until they learned 
proper times and ways of working under the novel natural condi- 
tions which surrounded them. They also accomplished modifica- 
tions in tools for tillage, which, from a local point of view, are 
notable improvements, and they devised new forms to meet special 
conditions or purposes. By this empirical method they ministered 
to their own success and incidentally demonstrated the truth of some 
advanced theories of tillage which had won but slight recognition 
from the conservative spirit of the older countries. It is an inter- 
esting fact also that prevailing California practice, in some import- 
ant regards, accords more closely with principles deduced from 
elaborate experimentation by the most acute and patient students 
of soil physics, than does the common practice of older countries. 
It is in some sense a grim satisfaction for Californians to feel that 
critics who have denounced some California tillage practices as 
slack and unthrifty, not only do not know our conditions but are 
not aware that their own practices are in contravention of general 
principles with which ours closely agree. 

With tillage, as with other gardening duties to which refer- 
ence has been made, there are in California wider extremes'to be 
mastered, and methods are therefore strikingly diverse. Tillage 
prepares the seed bed, facilitates germination and root-extension, 
and fosters the benign processes of soil warmth and aeration, here 
as elsewhere. It also holds the same relation to soil-moisture here 
as elsewhere, but its services in this particular are more conspicuous 
because the need is greater, as intimated in previous chapter. 

The common California conception of the value of tillage natu- 
rally seizes upon this aspect of the case and asserts that the chief 
offices of soil working are first to get as much moisture as possible 
into the soil and, second, to keep it there. The efficacy of certain 
[66] 



TILLAGE TO RECEIVE MOISTURE 67 

ways and times of tillage to assist in the escape of surplus moisture 
is, of course, known to those who have this work to do, but the 
area in which such acts are called for is comparatively small. It 
is quite important, however, that the vegetable grower should have 
it in mind and it will be mentioned later. 

All soil-stirring should be undertaken, as nearly as possible, 
when the soil is in best condition to receive it — that is when it 
crumbles best. A rough determination of this is to lift a spade full 
to an adjacent surface and strike it with the flat of the spade. If 
it crumbles well it is in working condition. In the case of raking 
or cultivating the crumbling of surface clods indicates similar con- 
ditions. 

TILLAGE TO RECEIVE MOISTURE. 

This involves both time and method. The importance of early 
work in the garden has been incidentally mentioned and will be 
further urged hereafter. With the rainfall-vegetable grower, early 
plowing of the land, or early digging of the small garden, is the 
first of a series of timely acts which are neglected at great peril. 

Summer Fallozv as Preparation for Vegetable Planting. — The 
best way to be early with one season is to begin in the previous one, 
if possible. A bare but frequently-stirred summer fallow is the best 
preparation for a garden. A piece of stubble or new land deeply 
plowed and subsoiled and left unharrowed in the fall or early win- 
ter, cross-plowed in the spring, and then worked with a cultivator 
once a month during the dry season, is brought to the opening of 
the rainfall garden season in good condition from at least three 
points of view : first, it has been cleaned of many weeds ; second, it 
has been improved in tilth and fertility and, third, it has a storage 
of moisture from the previous season's rainfall. Such a piece of 
land can be deeply plowed at the opening of the rainy season, and 
can be at once planted with vegetables for winter use which are 
hardy in the locality and will carry them along well with its content 
of stored moisture, even if there be very little rain during the early 
fall months. Because of its deeply stirred surface, freedom from 
hardpan from previous cultivation, and moist subsoil, it is in its best 
absorptive condition and by subsequent shallow working as each 
vegetable is disposed of, rotation or succession can proceed on the 
same ground and with the advancing winter and its added rainfall, 
planting of less hardy vegetables can be made until the frost-free 
period arrives and the garden will go out into the spring and sum- 
mer growth of nearly the whole list of hardy and tender plants with 
ample moisture to carry them to perfection during the dry season 
if the local rainfall is adequate. 

Early Begimiing for Work the Same Season. — But it is not 
always possible to give the year of rest and cleaning and moisture- 
saving, desirable as it is. In that case the plowing must be done 
dry or the land deeply irrigated before plowing, or the plowing 
deferred until the rains sufficiently moisten the soil for deep plow- 



68 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

ing. This last method usually limits the practice of autumn garden- 
ing and emphasizes the desirability of a water supply for irrigation. 
Sub-soiling may also be done with advantage if the rainfall of the 
region is generous ; if not, there is too great danger that much of 
the moisture may go out of reach of the shallow-rooting plant. It 
is usually not as safe to plant as early on newly plowed land as 
upon replowed summer fallow, for, unless the fall rains are above 
the average, the plants may be less thrifty than those planted later 
when full moisture is assured. This is, of course, a matter for local 
determination as it is conditioned upon local rainfall. It should 
also be observed that in plowing for early fall planting the land 
should be harrowed immediately, for there is more danger of losing 
moisture by evaporation than of getting too much from the early 
rains, which are usually light. In early plowing to catch winter 
rains with the idea of planting after the heaviest rains are over, 
say in February, the early plowing may be left rough until near 
planting time. 

Even if for any reason it is not thought desirable to plant vege- 
tables in the open air until February, and this is a practice in locali- 
ties where fall and early winter temperatures are rather low, still 
the early plowing is necessary to moisture-saving and cross-plowing 
should follow in preparation for planting. 

Land designed for spring planting of tender vegetables should 
also receive early and thorough fall plowing and a subsequent winter 
plowing or spring plowing before the weed growth becomes too 
heavy for turning under or so coarse that plowing under will make 
a non-retentive soil still more prone to drying out the following 
summer. 

TILLAGE TO CONSERVE MOISTURE. 

Tillage to receive moisture is designed to open the soil and to 
assist percolation to prevent surface run-off and to absorb the rain- 
fall. Tillage to save moisture aims to reduce evaporation to a 
minimum. In a firm soil moisture rises by capillary attraction and 
is rapidly removed from the surface by evaporation. A light soil 
has less capillarity, or ability to draw moisture from below, than 
a heavy one. A sandy soil has less than a clay, but both lose water 
by surface evaporation until, in an arid climate, plants will die of 
thirst unless they be by nature drought resisting. Garden vege- 
tables are not of that character; in fact quite the reverse. Conse- 
quently some means must be adopted to prevent the moisture which 
is rising in the soil from reaching contact with the outer air. This 
can be done by placing a covering upon the compact portion of 
the soil so that the air shall not have free access to it. Covering 
with a sufficient amount of almost any coarse material, such as is 
commonly known as a mulch, will answer. But the use of coarse 
manure or rotten straw or sawdust or anything of that sort, is 



TILLAGE TO SAVE MOISTURE 69 

troublesome and expensive and otherwise objectionable, although 
it has an acknowledged place in garden practice, as will be shown 
later. 

The Earth Mulch. — California practice has made the widest 
application of the truth that a finely pulverized surface layer of 
sufficient depth is an effective mulch. Pulverizing the soil widens 
the distance between its particles and consequently destroys its 
capillarity until by the action of moisture, either in the form of 
liquid or vapor, it becomes again compacted to a degree which re- 
stores its power to transmit moisture. The cultivator has it, then, 
within his power to spread a mulch and check evaporation simply 
by fine and frequent pulverization of the surface layer by cultivation. 
It is this ability which enables the California horticulturist to trans- 
form the lower layers of his soil into a reservoir, and to profit by 
the natural tendency of the moisture to rise in the compact soil until 
it reaches the point where the pulverized layer checks its advance. 
This practice makes possible an achievement which seems almost 
incredible to workers in humid climates, viz. : the growing of a 
succulent crop from seeding to harvest without the use of a drop 
of water either by rain or irrigation, and it is this practice, coupled 
with the deeper rooting habit of plants which is induced by it, which 
enables our trees and field crops to grow thriftily and produce 
heavily during months of drought, while a few weeks of drought 
may bring distress to plants in humid climates. 

But the pulverized surface layer must do more than arrest the 
capillary rise of moisture before it reaches the surface : it must check 
it at a point out of reach of the free entrance of air through the 
loose layer, consequently the degree of pulverization and the depth 
of the loose layer are factors to be carefully observed. It is not 
enough to grind an inch or two of the surface to powder. The free 
movement of air through this shallow layer, at least in our summer 
air with its exceptional thirst, will proceed with evaporation from 
the too thinly covered compact portion and the loss of moisture will 
be onlv a little less rapid and complete than if the surface had not 
been disturbed at all. The same thing will happen if the surface 
layer be only coarsely broken to a still greater depth : the passage of 
air through the clods will be free enough to draw ofif the moisture 
and the soil will dry out to a degree which will bring distress to 
plants which good cultivation would have maintained in vigorous 
growth. It is plain, then, that the earth mulch must be fine enough 
and deep enough to serve its intended purpose and for this no arbi- 
trary rule can be laid down except that the coarser the soil by nature, 
or the coarser the particles by cultivation, the deeper the mulch 
must be. The practical test is easy ; if the pulverized layer becomes 
dry and if on brushing it aside with the foot, the earth below is 
hard and more or less dry also, the mulch is not effective and its 
character must be improved. 



70 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Steps by Which Conservation is Attained. — The foundation for 
a satisfactory moisture-conserving tilth is laid with the plow during 
the fall or winter preceding the summer during which it is to be 
maintained. Though plowing has been considered as a factor in 
opening the soil to receive and store moisture ; it is also considered 
in its conservation. To do this the plow must be used when the soil 
is in the best condition not only for turning but for disintegrating 
by the crushing action of the moldboard so that the soil particles 
shall lie closely upon the firm portion and not form large air spaces 
which minister to drying out. Plowing when the soil is unfit results 
in clods, which are every way hateful in the garden, and in air 
spaces, which are objectionable, as shown. Even when the soil is in 
reasonably good condition, late plowing, if left rough and open to 
dry winds, will form clods in all except the loosest soils, conse- 
quently all late plowing should be at once well harrowed. 

The next step in the assurance of a good earth mulch is the 
early use of the cultivator. It will not do to allow the harrowed 
soil to crust by rains and then trust to some later rain to loosen and 
rescue the young plants from its embrace. Just as soon as the soil 
arrives in condition after a rain, stir the surface well and the crust 
will not be formed, and this must be done just as often as crust- 
forming conditions recur. In this way the soil surface is constantly 
kept in good absorbing condition and is also carried on its way to 
the best conserving condition as well. Weed growth, which is 
moisture wasting, is also prevented. 

Then comes the summer cultivation to retain such an earth- 
mulch as has been described. If it proceeds upon previous good 
work in clod and crust preventing, the vegetable grower is fortunate. 
If not, he must have recourse to whatever implements for clod 
crushing, cutting, chopping and grinding, work best in his soil, for, 
as there can be no best plow for all soils, so also there can be no best 
cultivator. The grower must learn to recognize the condition which 
he wishes to attain and then experiment with tools until he finds the 
best for his soil. Summer cultivation means cultivation all summer, 
or at least as long as growths are still progressing. To reduce to 
good tilth in the spring and then "lay by" the garden or else to count 
upon later cultivation only in the case of later rains, is not adequate 
cultivation for moisture conservation. The earth mulch will have 
its capillarity restored by its own absorption of moisture from below 
or from the air, and it will lose its efficiency as a protecting cover 
even though no rain falls. Therefore frequent stirring to ade- 
quate depth but without soil-turning must be maintained at intervals 
both to restore the mulch and to destroy weeds which may start late 
and pump moisture away from the plants in almost incredible 
amount. Remember, though no crust forms and no weeds start, the 
cultivator must frequently restore the surface layer to its condition 
as an efficient mulch if the greatest possible amount of moisture is 
to be conserved. 



THE WAY TO HOE IN CALIFORNIA 71 

CULTIVATION IN SMALL GARDENS. 

Work with spading-fork, hoe and rake in the hand-made garden 
is subject to exactly the same requirements as those described for 
the horse-power garden or vegetable field. Early and deep digging 
for moisture reception and storage, as well as to welcome root- 
penetration, must be followed by coarse raking to maintain a sur- 
face fit for absorption and not favorable to crusting while the rainy 
season advances, and after the rains have ceased, there must be 
frequent deep hoeing and fine raking to maintain the earth-mulch 
which has already been characterized. 

The Man zvith the Hoe. — The use of the hoe at different sea- 
sons in the California garden and the contrast between summer 
hoeing as practiced in arid and humid climates is so strikingly illus- 
trative of the sort of tillage which gives in California rank summer 
growth without rain, that a few comments will be indulged in. 

The first and most obvious reflection which comes to one who 
does summer hoeing in an arid land is that the handling of the hoe 
which he practiced in his boyhood in eastern garden or cornfield is 
not the hoeing which avails most now and here. The light, shallow 
stroke, which fell just below the root crown of the weed, stirred the 
immediate surface a little and left the field clean, used to be the 
touch for eastern hoeing, and a man could almost do it at walking 
speed for hours upon hours. Except a little extra deep work, which 
was called for when the occasional short droughts threatened, this 
shallow weed-cutting was sufficient to give the crop the upper hand 
in the struggle with weeds, and the frequent showers kept the sur- 
face moist enough to prevent baking. 

It is to be inferred from recent reports that there is less shallow 
hoeing done now than a generation ago at the east, and deeper sum- 
mer cultivation has been found profitable there. However this may 
be, it is clear that shallow hoeing is a delusion and a snare in this 
country. Practice it through the spring and as long as the weeds 
start, and your garden surface will be dusty. Think then con- 
tentedly about what you have heard of a mulch of dust-retaining 
moisture. Can it be possible, instead of shooting upward, the plant 
just holds its own and then goes backward, wilting, yellowing its 
leaves, and all but dying in its distress? Surely there must be a 
worm at the root. The hoe is seized and brought down upon the 
soil at an angle and with a force it has not known all summer. How 
the dust flies from the surface, and how the hoe flies from the hard- 
pan just beneath the dust as though it had been brought down upon 
a marble slab. Then there come to mind thoughts on hoeing which 
never came before. Then it becomes plain that the shallow weed- 
cutting stroke is not the dash of the hoe which saves the plant. 

One who goes through this experience once will know better 
how to hoe next time. He will see that by sharp, deep strokes, 
often using the corners of the blade, he will maintain a loose layer 
upon the surface which will be thick enough to prevent direct 



72 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

evaporation from a hard-pan layer and thus to break the connection 
between capillary action and the atmosphere. Such hoeing is harder 
than light work with the blade nearly horizontal. It takes muscle 
to give a strong vertical stroke which penetrates well, and one can- 
not waltz along the row^s whistling a lively tune, as is quite possible 
while weed-cutting in moist soil in February. 

There is little grace, we admit, in the attitude of the Italian 
market gardener, as he straddles the row, arches his back and grunts 
as he sends his heavy mattock its full depth into the soil around the 
plants. The American with his fine, new, full-width, bronze-shanked, 
green-labeled, steel hoe, marching along the rows, touching the soil 
with disdain as ill worth exertion on his part, is a much handsomer 
picture. But the Italian's plants laugh at drought. When irrigated 
the soil takes water like a sponge and it goes plump down to the 
roots of the plant. Irrigate the shallow-hoed plat ; a pailful will run 
a rod and the plant root gets but the gurgle of the water as it flows 
along the surface of the hard-pan just beneath the dust. 

Evidently, if one begins early in the season with deep hoeing, 
the midsummer tussle with hard-pan will be obviated. This is 
really the lesson to be learned. 

A Strazv Mulch. — In some cases a mulch of rotten straw, old 
leaves, etc., may be substituted for the earth mulch produced by 
tillage. It covers the surface from direct contact with drying sun- 
shine and air and retains moisture within reach of shallow roots. 
Such material is usually put in place after the plants are up and high 
enough to have their tops in the light while the litter shades the 
ground and the lower parts of the stems. This saves hoeing and 
conserves moisture and many growers strongly favor such a mulch 
for tall growing plants. In the case of potatoes it is quite possible 
to place the mulch right after planting, for the shoots readily find 
their v/ay through several inches of light coarse stuff, while many 
weeds will be repressed by it. Water may be applied by sprinkling 
on top of the mulch, 

CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION. 

All that has been said about the relations of tillage to reception 
and conservation of moisture from rainfall is of equal truth as 
related to moisture derived from irrigation. Soils not readily ab- 
sorptive must be opened by proper tillage to receive the waterflow. 
Such is the service rendered by the furrow system in addition to its 
furnishing channels for the flow. Soils naturally open will take 
water as well, and sometimes better, by other methods, as has already 
been explained. But by whatever means water is brought to the 
soil the conservation of the water depends largely upon the pre- 
vention of surface evaporation which not only releases moisture 
but turns the upper soil into a pavement which is fatal to shallow- 
rooting plants. Therefore let the plow follow the irrigation, if it is 
fall or winter irrigation for the preparation of a seed bed, and let 



GETTING PLANTS OUT OF THE WET 72i 

the cultivator do its work finely and to sufficient depth if it is sum- 
mer irrigation for advanced plant growth. Do not let the irrigated 
land lie until it yields clods to the cultivator. Seize it soon, as good 
tilth waits on stirring; "and when 'tis done then 'twere well it were 
done quickly." 

But soil stirring after irrigation is also the surety of effective 
irrigation. "The first thing when flood water leaves silt here in 
Coachella valley is to flop the silt under as soon as you can get on 
the land," says Bruce Drummond of the Indio Experiment Station. 
"If you don't, it seals your soil up and your irrigation water doesn't 
get through it. I am kept on the go most of the time to answer 
questions of people who want to know what is wrong with their 
trees, truck, etc. In many cases I can take a shovel and show them 
that they are not getting water down to the roots." 

RIDGES, HILLS, RAISED BEDS AND LEVEL CULTURE. 

Though the considerations suggested by these words are in- 
volved in irrigation and drainage, they are commonly regarded as 
phases of cultivation. It is almost obvious that all methods of 
lifting the plant bed above the common surface are equivalent to 
providing it with the fullest facilities for surface drainage. When- 
ever, then, ridging or hilling or raising whole garden beds is prac- 
ticed without connection with irrigation upon the elevated surface, 
it aft"ords exceptional means for the escape of surplus water and 
relief to the plant from saturated soil. By this act the winter growth 
of vegetables, hardy enough to withstand the local climate, can be 
carried on in the most retentive soil under a very heavy rainfall. 

Ridging. — It matters not whether this ridging is done very 
quickly with the plow by back furrowing or whether a raised bed 
is made in the small garden with a retaining border, the principle 
is the same and it is a very useful one. It affords a ready answer 
to the requirement which exists in many parts of California for 
facilitating winter growth by drainage without at the same time 
endangering too great loss of water for summer cropping. The 
back furrow gives the plants a greater depth of stirred soil, which is 
especially valuable in the rainy season. After the early crop of 
hardy vegetables is disposed of there will still be time to plow down 
the ridges and put the soil in receptive shape for the late winter or 
spring rains, cultivating being done later to retain moisture until 
the frost-free period arrives, when the same land will take its sum- 
mer crop of tender vegetables with or without irrigation as the 
character of the soil, the proposed growth and the local rainfall 
shall require. 

Raised Beds. — A more elaborate application of the same prin- 
ciples consist in the raised beds, which are very useful for winter 
growth in the small garden and, in combination with irrigation by 
seepage as already described in the chapter on that subject, afford 



74 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

a means for applying water or escaping from it as the conditions at 
any time shall dictate. 

Another form is the permanent, bordered, raised bed of the 
kitchen garden, which is very serviceable either in farm or village 
growth of home supplies by hand work, both in cultivation and 
sprinkling. This is the method by which the late Ira W. Adams, of 
Potter valley, one of our most resourceful vegetable growers, ap- 
plied the principle on a small scale: 

I made my beds four feet wide and any length desired. As my land is 
little on the adobe order I put on three or four inches of fine creek sand 
and a very heavy dressing of thoroughly decomposed mixture of cow, horse, 
pig and hen manure. My beds are twenty feet long and I confine the soil 
in them by laying a round spruce pole on each side, said pole being about 
six inches in diameter at one end and five at the other; a little larger or 
smaller will answer. By driving a small stake at each end of these poles 
and one in the middle, and fastening them to the pole by a single nail in 
each stake, a great saving of space is made on the edges of the beds, as 
without some protection the heavy rains wash the edges of the beds very 
badly. 

A few days before sowing the seed, in September, I water the bed very 
thoroughly until the soil is thoroughly saturated to the depth of eight or ten 
inches. Leave it until it is in just the right condition to work. Then incor- 
porate the sand and manure into the bed in the best possible manner by 
vigorous use of a six-tined hoe fork with round steel teeth about one-fourth 
of an inch in diameter and eight inches long. This thorough work, with 
the addition of the sand and manure, leaves my beds about eight inches 
above the general level of the land, and between each bed I leave a walk 
fourteen inches wide. 

Some may say it is a great deal of trouble to prepare such beds. 
Granted ; but when the beds are once carefully made they are fit for imme- 
diate use at all seasons of the year, and for many years to come, not only 
for onions, but for early lettuce, radishes, turnips, table beets, dwarf peas, 
etc., that require a light, rich, and well-drained soil. An application of a 
little liquid hen manure occasionally is very beneficial, and is all the fertiliz- 
ing the beds will need for many years. 

This shows small-scale, intensive work. With such beds it is 
possible to have vegetables in edible condition, before it would be 
wise to sow seeds of the same kinds in open ground in the same 
locality. 

Hilling. — Hilling of plants to aflford soil-room for growth 
started from shallow planting is another means of attaining drain- 
age and soil warmth during the winter season. It is the ridge prin- 
ciple applied in spots and with vastly greater labor. If one has a 
fancy for it he can indulge in it in a hand-made winter garden, but 
otherwise there is nothing to be said for it. 

Flat Culture. — All references to systems which lift the plant- 
bed above the common surface should be accompanied by the clear 
declaration, that except as associated with the distribution of irriga- 
tion water, they are a delusion and a snare if carried into summer 
work. The very release of water which fits them for winter use 
unfits them for the dry summer. Level culture is the broad basis 
upon which summer conservation of moisture rests. The plant root 



DRYING LAND BY TILLAGE 75 

should neither be Hfted into the air nor should the soil be opened 
so that the air is allowed to freely descend to the plant roots. Soil 
and air assume proper relations when the culture is flat and fine 
and sufficiently deep. 

Tillage to Release Excessive Moisture. — The occasion for this 
course, except in stated winter practice already described, rarely 
occurs in California except on lowlands in regions of ample rainfall, 
though sometimes a large precipitation in a short time may too 
long delay planting until the surplus is disposed of. Plowing with 
rather a long slope of moldboard, which turns furrows without 
crushing and laps them well, leaves air spaces at the bottom of the 
furrow-slice and aids greatly in drying the soil. Sub-soiling also 
allows water to percolate and air to enter freely. These are, how- 
ever, heroic treatments and if employed late in the rainy season are 
apt to give the lower layers of the soil opportunity to dry beyond 
desirable moisture retention. If only a slight surface drying is 
necessary a narrow-toothed harrow or cutting discs with slight 
lateral pressure will accomplish it. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
FERTILIZATION. 

In the chapter on soils there has been given a glance at the 
leading characteristics of California soils, including their endow- 
ment of available plant food. This natural fertility is the explana- 
tion of the fact that in this state up to this time the question of fer- 
tilization has been of minor importance. The securing and husband- 
ing of adequate moisture constitute the key by which native fertility 
is unlocked and so long as this resource permits the gathering of 
large crops of superior vegetable products without expenditure for 
fertilizers it is obvious thatwe shall have the art of fertilizing under 
our climatic conditions still to learn. We have, however, already 
entered upon large expenditure for fertilizers for fruit trees, es- 
pecially those of the citrus family, and the world-wide problem of 
economical plant-feeding will reach all our producers, sooner or 
later, as each has the hungrier plants or the thinner soils. The old 
misconception of the pioneers that CaUfornia climate and soil had 
some sort of beneficent inter-relation and inter-action which in- 
sured perpetual fertility, was merely a phase of the perpetual motion 
vagary, as applied to agriculture. It was a sort of reaction from the 
older view that California soil would produce nothing but winter 
pasture. Of course all these early notions have passed away. It is 
only a question of time when soil-building will be a regular Cali- 
fornia effort but on some lands, and for some crops, it may be a 
very long time before the problem will be pressing. 

And yet it would not be truthful to convey the impression that 
fertilization is not undertaken at the present time. Reports made 
under the California Fertilizer law indicate sales of over 36,000 
tons during the year ending June 30, 1917. There has been great 
progress during recent years in the utilization of natural manurial 
supplies which were formerly allowed to go to waste. The demand 
from orchardists has induced systematic search and traffic, and old 
accumulations from the stock farming of our first thirty or forty 
years have been put to good use, together with a considerable amount 
of artificial fertilizers. There is also a constant demand for the 
wastes of our towns and cities for gardening purposes. Our mar- 
ket gardeners have zeal for collecting the cleanings of city stables 
and our amateur gardeners, both in villages and on farms, make, as 
a rule, good use of the animal wastes which are available. They 
understand the advantage of intensive work and of bringing small 
areas up to maximum production, and they know that to raise large 
garden crops one must apply manure without stint, but our field 
production of staple vegetables is not intensive as yet, except as 

[76] 



VALUES OF BARNYARD MANURES 17 

intensity is included in natural fertility. This being the case, the 
writer does not undertake prophecy. In a few years the progressive 
work which is now under way, especially in southern California, in 
trial of artificial manures for vegetable growing, will furnish object 
lessons for general guidance. Present purposes will be best served 
by offering suggestions as to the ways to turn natural supplies to 
best account. 

Comparative Value of Animal Manures. — The excrements of 
different animals serve somewhat different purposes in garden 
practice because they act more or less quickly and are more or less 
stimulating to the plant. There is also warrant in carrying with 
the word stimulating the inference that in feeding plants, as in 
treating animals, that which is most stimulating must be used with 
the greatest caution. Both caution and economy prescribe that the 
manure which has the highest content of plant food should be used 
in less amount and more carefully distributed through the area of 
soil which the roots of the plant are expected to traverse. 

The excrements of animals depend in composition upon the 
abundance and richness of the food furnished them. The follow- 
ing table is compiled from experiments and analyses made at Cor- 
nell University, and there is no doubt that the stock was well fed. 

COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF FRESH MANURE FROM DIFFERENT 

ANIMALS. 

Nitrogen, Potash, Phosphoric Acid Value per 

Animals. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Ton. 

Cows 0.50 0.29 0.45 2.37 

Horses 0.47 0.94 0.39 2.79 

Sheep 1.00 1.21 0.08 419 

Swine 0.83 0.61 0.04 3 18 

Hens 1.10 0.29 0.47 4.22 

The value is figured at the price agreed upon by eastern chem- 
ists as fair value for the ingredients as used in artificial fertilizers. 
Value per ton is also conditioned upon the percentage of water 
in the manure. Hen manure has much less water even in a fresh 
state than that of cattle, and air-dried hen manure, free from earth, 
etc., is sometimes worth as much as $10 per ton, providing the hens 
are well fed. In this state air-dried sheep manure in large corral 
deposits in Fresno county has been found by analyses at the Uni- 
versity of California to have this composition and value : 

Per cent. 

Nitrogen 2.32 

Potash 2.90 

Phosphoric Acid 2.88 

The material had only twenty-eight per cent of water and its 
value calculated at the agreed price of its ingredients is $10.95 per 
ton. Even when calculated at the same per cent of water, the Cali- 
fornia corral deposit has much higher value than the eastern sheep 
manure, because it has suflfered less from leaching. 



78 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Garden Use of Concentrated Manures. — Hen, sheep and hog 
manure very much richer, as shown, than the same bulk of cow 
or horse manure. The safest way to use them is by composting 
with other materials, as will be described presently, but if it is de- 
sirable to use them alone, care should be taken in the distribution, 
as already stated. This can be assured by thoroughly mixing these 
manures with at least equal bulks of fine earth, when they will soon 
be reduced into a fairly dry and powdery state in which they may 
be readily spread broadcast on the land, or be sown by the drill, and 
be found a useful general manure for every kind of garden produce, 
if it is evenly scattered and not allowed to collect around the roots 
of single plants. A mixture which is good for all garden purposes 
can be made with 1,000 lbs. of chicken manure, 150 lbs. nitrate of 
soda, 600 lbs. fine bone meal, and 250 lbs. muriate of potash. Poul- 
try manure should not be mixed with wood ashes. 

Deterioration of Manures. — There are two ways by which 
animal manures lose valuable constituents : first, the escape of nitro- 
gen by fermentation which sets free this element chiefly in the form 
of ammonia; second, the leaching out of soluble matters by ex- 
posure of the mass to copious rains. Both of these losses are prac- 
tically prevented by drying of the manure. The local demonstration 
of this general truth is seen in the analysis just given of sheep 
manure which has passed through many years of exposure to the 
weather in an arid interior valley of California and still retains so 
much fertilizing value. Another means by which fermentation is 
reduced and controlled is by compacting the mass so that free access 
of air and free passage of water are prevented. This compacting 
is currently accomplished by the tread of the sheep confined by 
night in large numbers in small inclosure. The prevention of leach- 
ing in this case is also due to the fact that the local rainfall never 
reaches in any short period volume enough to accomplish percola- 
tion through the thick layer of manure to the soil. We have, then, 
in the case of a dry interior valley of California, all the conditions 
for the preservation of manure which the progressive farmers of 
humid climates secure by means of covered cattle yards, covered 
pits, manure sheds and other devices. 

And yet manure will go to destruction in California as fast as 
elsewhere unless the conditions mentioned are secured. Loose piles 
of manure, except in the most arid localities, have, or subsequently 
receive, moisture enough to start active fermentation and will "fire- 
fang" and become nearly worthless in a very short time during our 
hot summer. Such loose piles thrown to the weather in the rainy 
season will be largely leached of their soluble matters wherever 
rainfall is considerable. Probably the easiest way to preserve manure 
in California is to allow it to lie in the corral during the summer, 
for there it is free from leaching rain, usually from June to No- 
vember, and all its coarse straw, etc., dry and brittle, is reduced 
almost to powder by the tramp of the animals. If, then, this fine 



COMPOST FOR GARDEN PURPOSES 79 

material is scraped up, spread and plowed in at the beginning of 
the rainy season it will readily ferment in the soil and all its value 
be retained, if the application is made to a heavy soil under a good 
rainfall. If the garden or field of fall vegetables is started with a 
good deep irrigation manure can be plowed in at that time, but 
otherwise the application should be made under the fall rains. 

The winter-made manure should not be allowed to lie in the 
corral to be leached by drenching rain. It should be gathered fre- 
quently and applied fresh to the land, so that the leachings may go to 
useful purposes in the soil and the coarse material should be plowed 
in while there is still moisture enough in the soil to make the process 
safe and efficacious. 

This easiest way to handle animal manures in California may 
do for ordinary farm crops, if the soil is heavy enough and moist 
enough to receive unfermented manure without danger to the crop 
from the loss of moisture, but it is not the best way to handle ma- 
nure, either for field crops or for gardens. Manure for garden use 
should be most carefully treated to save all its richness and to render 
its coarse materials more readily available in soil-forming processes. 
In short, instead of preventing fermentation, manure for garden 
purposes should be put through a carefully controlled fermentation 
which is involved in composting. 

Compost for Garden Purposes. — The term compost signifies 
a mixture of manurial substances and for garden use there should 
be collection constantly made of the voiding of the animals, trim- 
mings of vegetables, the refuse of plants as the ground is cleared, 
the house wastes, and in fact everything of an organic nature which 
will yield to decay, and any available mineral wastes, like ashes, 
which contain plant food. If all these are added to the animal 
manure and treatment adopted which will promote the proper fer- 
mentation in it, the manure will assist in reducing the other ma- 
terials to proper condition for garden use. 

The conditions for such fermentation are adequate moisture 
accompanied with stirring and aeration enough to distribute the 
action evenly throughout the mass and to bring all the materials 
under its influence. There are numerous ways of accomplishing 
this, and each operator will probably have his own notions about 
their relative ease and cheapness. 

Manure Tanks. — These are cemented, water-tight, excavations 
of various sizes. A Napa county farmer built one a few years ago 
which cost him nearly two hundred dollars, with all its appurte- 
nances. It is thirteen by twenty and one-half feet in size, about 
six feet deep and exceedingly well built, having cement walls and 
floor, so as to be water-tight. The floor has a slant, inclining to a 
well at one end, where, with the aid of a wooden pump, the juices 
as they settle are raised to the top and poured over the mass to 
again percolate through it. Such a cistern might, perhaps, be made 
for less money now, but it is quite a question whether it is worth 



80 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

while making any such investment. Loss of liquid manure by leach- 
ing is prevented, but on the other hand it is apt to accumulate in 
such quantities in the pit that, unless the pit is roofed, the addition 
of the rainfall will result in the submergence of all the manure and 
this excludes the air and prevents the proper fermentation. The 
result is that there is great cost in excavating the water-logged ma- 
terial from the tank, a large amount of heavy and disagreeable 
shoveling and the manure not in the best condition after all. 

Manure Pits. — Manure pits if excavated with one sloping side 
so carts can be readily backed in for filling, are cheaper than tanks 
and if they have a clay subsoil for a floor or can be puddled with 
clay on the concave bottom they will hold most of the liquid unless 
water flushing of the stable is indulged in. A large grower of 
beets and other roots for stock feeding in San Mateo county has 
for a number of years used this arrangement with satisfaction: 

I have a manure pit large enough to hold all the manure made in a 
year. A hole about three feet deep is dug out of the side of a hill. A 
sloping platform, up which all the manure is wheeled, raises it about four 
feet above the ground on the upper side, which gives a drop for the manure 
of about seven feet. When filled up to a level with the end of the platform, 
loose planks are laid as required on top of the manure. Thus by continually 
wheeling each day's manure over the older manure its solidity is insured, 
and all the manure made on the farm has to go up the said platform. After 
the cow stable is cleaned out, the lightest of the manure from the horse 
stable, bull stalls, etc., or any other absorbent, is put behind the cows, taking 
up fluids, and thus insuring a regular quality throughout the heap. Another 
important item added to the general heap is the hen manure and ashes, the 
latter being kept in a large tin, which, when full, is emptied into the fowl- 
house, and all goes in the manure heap together. 

This use of absorbents prevents accumulation of excessive 
liquid and there is consequently little loss by leaching. The com- 
pacting of the mass prevents too free access of the air and fit con- 
ditions for slowly breaking down the coarse manure are assured. 
The addition of wood ashes which causes loss of nitrogen in open 
mixtures is innocent when covered into a mass of absorptive ma- 
terial. 

Composting in Piles. — The method usually followed by mar- 
ket gardeners seems on the whole the most convenient and best 
for this climate, where the winter rainfall is, as a rule, not so 
heavy as to occasion much leaching, if the pile is of several feet in 
depth. It involves some shoveling, but it facilitates rapid curing 
of the manure and brings it into excellent condition for garden use. 
Stack the fresh manure in a pile several feet high. Then give it 
a thorough wetting from a hose and allow it to decompose for a 
few weeks. Then chop it down with sharp spades, mix thoroughly 
and stack it again; then wet it well once more, and after a few 
weeks it will be ready to put upon the field. This process of com- 
posting destroys all weed and other seeds, prevents the manure 
from burning, as well as the escape of volatile parts, especially 
when a small amount of loam is intermixed when stacking it. Com- 



WAYS TO USE MANURES 81 

post thus made is suitable for the finest garden, at a moderate ex- 
pense, and the work necessary will pay a larger profit than any 
other farm labor. Watching the moisture and using the hose,_ when 
the rainfall is not adequate, and thorough stirring and aeration of 
the mass, are the essentials of the process. 

The manner in which the late Ira W. Adams handled manures 
involves correct practice : 

Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall rains, putting the 
same on the land, and either cultivate it in or plow it under. What manure 
accumulates during the winter, pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in 
depth, and throw it over some three or four times during the winter to 
keep it from burning, as well as to thoroughly mix it and thereby hasten 
decomposition. Put horse, cow, hog, chicken, and every other kind of 
manure that can be had, all together. 

Never burn anything that will rot, but haul to the pile cornstalks, roots, 
and all squash, melon, tomato, and potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of 
every description, in fact anything and everything that will decay and make 
vegetable matter. Use fresh horse manure mostly to hasten the decompo- 
sition of said vines, weeds, etc., alternating as the heap is made. By so 
doing there will not be a weed seed left with vitality enough to germinate. 

It is well to have manure piles under a roof to avoid leaching during 
the longest and most excessive rains, but so situated that the rain falling on 
the barn can be easily conducted to the piles, giving them just the amount 
of water necessary and no more. After the rains are over, some water will 
have to be applied from time to time ; and covering with very fine, dry earth 
will keep the pile from drying out during the long, hot summer, as well as 
cause it to retain most of the ammonia, etc., that would otherwise have 
evaporated and escaped-. Late in the fall it will be found entirely rotten, 
cutting like old cheese. 

Liquid Manure. — Liquid extract of animal manures is of great 
efficacy in vegetable growing if carefully used. It is made by filling 
a barrel with manure, pouring water on above and drawing it out 
below as it leaches through the mass. Another way is to have a 
barrel filled with water in a handy place and throw into it enough 
manure to make an extract of the right strength. No matter how 
it is done care must be taken not to have the extract too strong. 
This can generally be told by the color, which should not be darker 
than tea of medium strength. The quantity to apply in the hot-bed 
or the open ground must be learned by experience. Enough to 
produce generous and still vigorous growth is the rule. With plants 
to bear fruit like tomatoes much less stimulant can be used than 
with plants for foliage, for the stimulant always acts away from 
fruiting and toward leaf and stem extension. 

Absorbents. — As has already been intimated, the free use of 
absorbents is very desirable both for valuable liquids, likely to 
leach away, and for gases which are prone to fly off. Probably 
the best absorbent for both purposes is ground gypsum, which is 
now very cheaply furnished from local sources in several parts of 
the state. It adds value of its own in addition to its absorbent 
properties. A very abundant material in an arid country is road 
dust. It, too, will take up both liquids and gases. In village gardens 



82 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

with paved streets and well-watered soil, sifted coal ashes act well 
in the hen-house and on the manure pile, and the cinders which are 
sifted out are a good foundation for permanent garden walks. The 
free use of the fine coal ashes for years kept the writer's fowls 
without a case of swell-head, rid the hen-house of all odor, and 
furnished many wagon loads of home-made fertilizer which is per- 
fectly safe to use freely as the hen manure is diffused through quite 
a bulk of material. The effect of large use of these sifted coal ashes 
on an adobe garden well-nigh took the hatefulness out of it and 
made it into a loam delightful to put tools into. 

Manure as a Mulch. — Market gardeners operating with heavy 
soils use immense quantities of barn-yard manure both composted 
with garden wastes and as fresh manure. The latter is largely 
used as a mulch or top dressing during the rainy season to prevent 
heavy rain from compacting the soil around the young plants and 
to get the richness of the manure by leaching. They use it in sum- 
mer also to prevent surface evaporation and to prevent compacting 
the surface when the water is hand-thrown with scoop or pan from 
the ditches between the raised beds. This is to help small plants 
with their rooting; afterward they take water percolation from 
the ditch. The free surface use of fresh coarse manure to be after- 
ward forked in, is safe on heavy clay, which the gardener is en- 
deavoring to lighten up, but if coarse manure is used as a mulch 
on light sandy soil, it should be raked up and taken to the compost 
heap, as only thoroughly decomposed manure should be worked into 
such soil. 

Of the services of a manure mulch, Prof. Rogers, of the Uni- 
versity Farm, says : 

Well-rotted stable manure, free from coarse straw, should be put on 
to a depth of about two inches and scattered evenly over the beds. When 
planting onion, radish, turnip, beet or other seeds, scatter the manure on 
the beds immediately after planting. Where the vegetables have appeared 
above the surface the top dressing can be distributed between the rows. 
After the garden has thus been treated it will not need irrigating under 
ordinary conditions more than once a week, and except where the weed 
growth is bad hoeing will be a thing of the past. The manure not only 
has a physical effect, but it will enrich the soil and instead of the tops of 
the vegetables having a yellow, sickly color, they will become green and 
healthy in appearance. Water can be applied in the same manner as if 
the top dressing was not there. 

Wood Ashes. — Coal ashes have no estimable manurial value ; 
their effect is mechanical, just as is the effect of adding sand to 
clay, but wood ashes as well as plant ashes of all kinds, is in- 
trinsically an excellent fertilizer, since it contains the soil ingredi- 
ents required by all plants, even though in different proportions. 
The value of ash varies materially in accordance with the degree 
of heat to which it has been subjected when made. In general 
the hotter the fire, the less active will be the ash as a fertilizer. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 83 

The chemical composition of ashes varies considerably, ac- 
cording to the plants, or parts of plants, from which it has been 
derived; the smaller the wood, or the more of weeds or other 
herbaceous material there was in it, the more valuable the ash; but 
taking a broad average, a bushel (say forty-eight pounds) of wood 
ashes would, according to the ordinary valuation of the ingredients, 
be worth about twenty-five cents — counting on an average of five 
per cent of potash and two per cent of phosphoric acid. In general, 
ashes should be spread broadcast over the surface of the ground 
and allowed to be washed in by rains or irrigation, and not 
placed too near the plant. If plowed in shallow with stubble or 
weeds, the latter decompose very quickly, and the effect of both 
is thus improved and quickened. 

The greatest benefit may be expected upon sandy and porous 
soils. On these "light soils" crops of every kind, but especially root 
crops and corn, will be benefited by a dressing of wood ashes. 
Thirty to fifty bushels to the acre of fresh ashes will be a full 
dressing, and three or four times that amount of leached ashes may 
be applied with permanent benefit. 

Bone Manures. — To make bones readily available they may be 
treated with sulphuric acid and rendered into superphosphate, which 
is soluble. But sulphuric acid is a very dangerous agent to handle, 
and can hardly be commended for farm or garden use. Burning 
bones destroys their nitrogen and renders the phosphate even more 
insoluble. The best home treatment for bones is to crush them if 
it can be handily done, and then put them through the fermentation 
of the compost heap. The bones which do not break down under 
this treatment can best be buried deeply in the orchard to await the 
slow disintegration by the tree roots. 

Commercial Fertilisers. — A discussion of the value and avail- 
ability of commercial fertilizers is beyond the reach of this treatise. 
The vegetable grower should possess himself of a good recent book 
on the subject* In connection with the different vegetables there 
will be mention of appHcations which have been serviceable, but a 
general formula may be cited from Voorhees, as follows : 

A good basic formula for such market garden crops as aspara- 
gus, cucumbers, early potatoes, early tomatoes, onions, cabbage, 
cauliflower, celery, egg plants, melons, peppers, squashes, etc., may 
consist of : 

Lbs. 

Nitrate of soda 100 

Sulphate of ammonia 100 

Dried blood 150 

Ground bone 100 

Superphosphate 450 

Muriate of potash 150 

From 800 to 1000 lbs. of this formula can be used per acre. 



•Such a book is "Fertilizers," by E. B. Voorhees, Macmillan Co., New York. 



84 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

In addition to the foregoing, which should be well distributed 
through the soil before planting, additional surface scattering of 
nitrate of soda at the rate of 100 lbs. per acre may be made during 
the early growth of the plants. 

Nitrate of Soda. — The nitrate of soda is the old reliance of 
gardeners as promotive of quick, free growth and the plant may be 
pushed early in its growth when perhaps temperatures are too low 
for full action of other supplies of nitrogen, which the soil may 
contain. Careful application should be made, after the seed has 
germinated, during the early stages of growth of the plant which 
it is desired to stimulate. The time of application does not depend 
upon the calendar but upon the ability of the plant to use it to the 
best advantage. An excessive application may kill the plants and 
even distribution is essential, either over the whole surface or along 
the row, at the rate of 200 to 500 pounds per acre, according to 
the ability of the plant to use it to the grower's advantage. The 
nitrate is distributed to the roots by the use of very little water; 
too heavy rainfall or irrigation may carry it away from them. 

O. M. Morris of Los Angeles gives these hints for garden use 
of nitrate : 

A light application in furrows each side of the rows will stimulate more 
rapid growth. Probably the most satisfactory method is to scatter the 
crystals of nitrate of soda lightly along in the irrigating furrow after the 
water has been shut off, using five pounds to three or four hundred feet of 
row. Then turn the soil back over this wet furrow, when the nitrate will 
be quickly dissolved and will go directly to the roots. Blood meal applied 
in like manner will give similarly good results, as will also many of the 
commercial fertilizers with soluble ingredients. 

Application must be made intelligently and sparingly at first 
until the grower finds how much he can use to secure best results 
with the particular plant he desires to push along. 



CHAPTER IX. 

GARDEN LOCATION AND 
ARRANGEMENT. 

Several things should be considered in locating the farm gar- 
den, for much depends upon selecting: first, the best soil for the 
purpose the farm afifords ; second, situation with relation to pro- 
tection, warmth and drainage ; third, nearness to water supply for 
irrigation ; fourth, nearness to the home and protection from intru- 
sion. It may not be possible to combine all these points in a single 
situation, and then it may be advisable to make two locations, or, 
in making one, to sacrifice convenience to the more imperative con- 
ditions of exposure, soil and moisture. 

Choice of Soil. — General considerations in connection with soils 
have already been given. Of course, for ease of work as well as 
for other considerations a rich loam should be chosen — the best that 
the ranch afifords. As to grades of loam, the lighter should be 
chosen for the winter garden because of the better natural drain- 
age and warmth and the short time in which such soils will take 
tools and seeds well after heavy rains. The heavier and more re- 
tentive soil will better suit the summer garden. Sometimes these 
two soils may be found beside each other in the same acre; some- 
times the soil can be readily improved in these lines, as has already 
been explained, or small pieces at a distance from each other may 
be chosen if each has distinctive fitness. 

Situation and Exposure. — Situation should be considered for 
warmth and protection as well as drainage, which has been men- 
tioned. Though garden ground in general is most conveniently 
worked if it has just enough grade for the slow distribution of 
water, for winter and early spring growth an elevation out of the 
frosts of the low grounds and into the superior heat of the southerly 
slopes will be found of advantage. In addition to the ridge above, 
such protection from north and northwest winds as a windbreak 
of trees or farm buildings or a high fence will be valuable. There 
is great difference in the safety and speed of winter vegetables on 
benches and hillsides, as compared with the lower lands at their 
feet only a few rods away perhaps. Warm protected slopes are 
best for winter and the worst for summer vegetables. Shallow soil 
spread on porous rock is non-retentive and warm for winter growth, 
but it may be impossible, even with irrigation, to carry good succu- 
lent growth on it during the blistering summer heat. Then the 
deep loams of the creek borders and other level lands delight the 
gardener with the largest returns for the least water. 

[85] 



86 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Nearness to Water Supply. — The summer garden should be 
near the water supply, if it be developed from home sources, or 
the water should be piped to it, which is almost equivalent to mov- 
ing the reservoir to the garden site. Carriage of water in a flume 
entails losses by leakage and evaporation and earth-ditches are dis- 
tressingly wasteful by evaporation and percolation. One often sees 
water started on its way from the home-site tanks toward a distant 
garden, making mud-holes and losing volume all the way. In many 
cases another well-outfit for the sole use of the garden would be a 
good investment. 

Nearness to the Home. — If fairly good conditions exist near 
the home site, by all means locate the garden there. It will win 
the interest and profit by the attention of the house folks and will 
yield its supply directly to their hands in most cases. Besides, with 
the tools handy, spare hours now and then will be given to its 
working when the leisure is too short to warrant or incline one to 
walk to a distant patch. The time thus saved may almost keep 
the garden going in good shape. Then, a well-kept garden is an 
ornament and the ornamentation of our rural homes is not usually 
over rich. 

Protection from Intrusion. — To be any comfort and gratfica- 
tion whatever the farm garden must be protected from intruders. 
One of the chief objections to locating vegetable patches here and 
there in the best situations for special purposes lies in the trouble 
of excluding wild marauders of all sizes from a jack-rabbit to a 
deer and the whole range of domestic invaders from the pasture or 
corral. This fact alone compels many to forego vegetable planting 
except in the well-fenced house-yard. It is not difficult to inclose 
a few square rods with wire netting or with the woven fence of 
wire and lath, and driven posts — the whole to be rolled up and 
stored or moved to another inclosure as the progress of the season 
gives it new uses. 

A home-grown fence is quite possible in California, using for 
pickets the southern cane or the Asiatic bamboos, both of which 
grow readily on moist land in this state. Mr. C. A. Maul of Kern 
county was recently reported to have completed the construction of 
a mile of fence, using these canes for pickets. His plan was this : 
Second-hand railroad ties were bought and split for posts. These 
were set a rod apart. With a machine that cost about twenty-five 
dollars, the canes were woven into a web, using six No. 14 wires 
for the chain. The canes were cut three and one-half feet long, the 
fence posts are four feet high and along the top of them a barbed 
wire is stretched, so that when completed one has a chicken or 
rabbit proof fence as well as a strong stock fence. This fence, Mr. 
Maul says, can be built for forty cents a rod where one raises his 
own cane. It is very durable, the cane becoming as hard as bone 
and never rotting; rabbits cannot gnaw it, and it will not ignite 
from burning grass near it as common pine fencing or lath will; 



LAYING OFF FOR VEGETABLES 87 

Stock can see it and hence will not run against it ; it can be made of 
any height desired, the canes growing as high as twelve to fifteen 
feet; it may be taken down, rolled up and moved without injury 
and at slight expense. In addition to their use as protective fences 
these woven canes and wire serve as windbreaks, sunshades, etc., 
as such may be desired for temporary service. 

The Horse-Power Garden. — Although our foreign-born friends 
who do most of the market garden work in California retain their 
native predilection for hand labor and plan their gardens accord- 
ingly, it is advisable that farm vegetable growers should arrange to 
use as much horse power as possible. Both for this purpose and to 
facilitate furrow irrigation or seepage ditch irrigating, if the slope 
suits it, the garden should be somewhat brick-shaped, because of 
the greater work which can be done with the same or fewer turn- 
ings of the horse or team than on a square piece. At both ends 
there should be a roadway left for turning the team. The shape 
is equally adapted for flat or ridge cultivation. 

In the horse-power farm garden there should, of course, be 
no permanent walks. If walks are desired, leave spaces length- 
wise unplanted and uncultivated and smooth down the surface with 
a roller. Such arrangements, however, waste land and waste moist- 
ure, for the hard ground draws water laterally. It is better econ- 
omy, therefore, to evenly cultivate the whole area. Lay out the 
plantings in straight rows for ease of cultivation, and either plant 
full rows of each vegetable or continue the rows with another kind 
which requires the same distance. Proper distances for each vege- 
table will be considered in subsequent chapters. It is convenient 
to make the distances multiples of some unit. For instance two 
feet between the rows is about the minimum distance for horse 
cultivation. Some growers, therefore, plant at two, four, six, eight, 
etc., feet distances : others start with three feet and proceed with 
six, nine, twelve, etc. — the latter for the largest running vines. 
This makes rows of the small, upright growers a yard apart, which 
is rather too great a distance ordinarily. 

It is often a great convenience to have permanent distance 
stakes set close to the fences on the ends of the plot and placing 
them the accepted unit apart. It is easy to regulate distances by 
slipping the planting line over the two opposite stakes which give 
the desired separation. If one has a good horse and a good eye, 
he will, however, probably prefer to use a "marker" made with 
thills and plow handles properly fastened to a cross-bar eight or 
ten feet long and fitted with wooden teeth such distance apart as he 
adopts as his unit of distance between the rows. Starting, then, 
with a straight guide-line on the surface on one side, thre or four 
parallel lines can be clearly marked at one driving over. Follow- 
ing these marks with the garden drill, or with the hoe planting, very 
straight lines of seeding can be done in a fraction of the time needed 
to work with a line. But whether line or marker be used, it is 



88 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

desirable to rotate the plants year by year so that the narrow and 
wide row plantings shall change places on the plot, else one might 
be so supernaturally accurate that the rows would come everlast- 
ingly on the same lines, which would not be desirable even if the 
soil were somewhat displaced laterally by cultivation. 

The Man-Pozver Garden. — With a soil either naturally or arti- 
ficially light and mellow, as discussed in Chapter IV, there is possi- 
ble a very satisfactory compromise between horse and hand work 
through the excellent wheel cultivators, seeders, etc., operated by a 
man while walking. They can be found in all garden, tool and 
supply stores and catalogues and should be used to replace slower 
and more laborious hand work in all save the smallest dooryard 
gardens, and even they are seldom too small to gain some advan- 
tage from the use of these appliances. Though they may be op- 
erated in very close rows it is much better for ease of cultivation 
and for the growth of the plants, also, that ample distances be 
given. C. M. Hoak, in the California Cultivator, gives good advice 
on this point: 

Do not make the mistake of putting rows too close together. With 
the exception of radishes, onions, lettuce and similar material, vegetables can 
be spaced in rows 30 inches apart. Double rows with the companion rows 
eight inches apart with the 30-inch spacing between is one of the most 
satisfactory arrangements which can be made to allow thorough cultivation. 
Try laying out your garden in this way, and every time you think you 
ought to water cultivate with a five-pronged cultivator or a wheeled plow. 
Your water bill will be lower and your vegetables better. 

Arrangement for Succession. — It is a great convenience in 
arranging for due succession in the garden (which will be further 
considered in the chapter on planting) to give adjacent rows to 
vegetables which mature at about the same time. By this arrange- 
ment, say, half or a quarter of the garden lengthwise can be cleaned 
up at the same time and the whole section be at once replanted or 
plowed up for later planting or irrigating as may be desirable. Of 
course if early plantings for winter use are made in the same plot 
with plantings which will go into the summer, each should be in its 
own quarter of the garden. 

Shade in the Summer Garden. — In arranging the summer gar- 
den in the interior heat, it is sometimes desirable to place low, 
tender-leaved plants like lettuce between rows of tall vegetables 
which afford it partial shade. Tall corn or pole beans may thus 
take the place of artificial screens which might otherwise be 
necessary. 

VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD AND VINEYARD. 

This subject is usually discussed from the point of view of 
injury to the trees, and rightly so, because the trees represent the 
greater investment and the greater expectations, but the lowly vege- 
tables have a point of view also and by their appearance they clearly 



VEGETABLES AMONG FRUIT TREES 89 

declare that whether they hurt the trees or not they would like a 
better place on their own account. It is a fact that inter-culture of 
vegetables in an orchard is soon abandoned because the vegetables 
do not pay for the trouble and by the sight of them one is not 
surprised that they do not pay. It would probably be much better 
for trees, vegetables and owner if half an acre, if for home use, 
and larger area, if for market, should be kept free of trees and 
handled on a more intensive plan for the production of fine vege- 
tables. When fruit prices were higher and orchard improvements 
the only avenue to high acre-valuation, it is not surprising that 
people tried to plant fruit trees everywhere on small tract pur- 
chases — even to making clothes-line posts of them, but now as 
other resources are receiving better proportional esteem, a small, 
first-class garden spot, worked up to the limits of its possibilities, 
should receive attention not only for constant money-saving and 
money-making, but as one of the most valuable improvements on 
the place. 

There is no particular disadvantage or difficulty in growing 
vegetables in young orchards or vineyards providing conditions are 
right for it. Fruits and vegetables have been associated in gardens, 
probably, ever since Adam failed through giving too much attention 
to fruit. But the association of fruits and vegetables has been 
successful upon the garden policy of enrichment, irrigation, and 
the highest known culture. This is quite different from the propo- 
sition as it has arisen in California, which is to grow vegetables 
upon the orchard policy of cultivation for conservation of moisture 
and trust to the natural fertility of the land. It is not surprising 
that the soil often rebels at the double burden as beyond its strength 
and dictates its terms to the grower — by so much as you gain of 
one by so much you shall lose of the other. 

It has, however, been shown in previous chapters on soils and 
irrigation that California has natural soils and situations which are 
quite comparable with the best conditions which intensive culture 
can produce in the gardens of older lands and, this being true, it is 
possible to draw upon their rich resources in the same way. It is 
quite possible, then, to grow good vegetables between young fruit 
trees and for a certain period it can be done without irreparable 
injury to the trees, providing the local conditions warrant the prac- 
tice. These conditions may be thus summarized : 

If the soil be of only average richness, the rainfall moderate 
to meager in amount, and no facilities for irrigation, it would be 
unfortunate to place any other burden on the land than the growth 
of the trees. 

If the soil be not over rich and the rainfall heavy, but the 
moisture easily lost by percolation or evaporation, owing to non- 
retentiveness of the soil, and no irrigation facilities, give the trees 
all the ground and the most perfect summer cultivation possible. 



90 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

If the land be rich, the rainfall abundant and moisture held 
well in the soil, or if irrigation can be made use of, it is fair to think 
of an inter-crop during the early years of the orchard, providing 
the crop can be profitably disposed of. its nature is such that no 
heavy draft is made on fertility, and the financial condition of the 
planter requires immediate return from the land, if possible. 

It thus appears that an inter-crop is finally made to hinge upon 
the grower's necessities, and the inference would be that if the 
money is not needed immediately, it would be wiser to hold the 
whole strength of the soil as an investment on which returns are to 
be finally had in the increased growth and fuller fruiting of the 
trees in later years. 

This views the matter from a commercial point of view and 
therefore in its most aggravated form. If it is merely a question of 
whether the home supply of vegetables shall be taken from the 
young orchard or vineyard, it is less serious and deserves a stronger 
affirmative. 

In growing vegetables between the rows of trees or vines, 
much depends, of course, upon the time and the way it is done. If 
water can be applied between the rows late in the summer in such 
a way that it will not prevent the deciduous trees from going for- 
ward to their usual dormancy, or if the grower waits until the fall 
rains wet the ground sufficiently and then puts in his vegetables for 
late fall and winter growth without extending them too near the 
trees, he can make his winter garden, enjoy its produce, and plow 
in the debris so early in the spring that no appreciable injury will 
be done to the trees, unless he is on that line of light rainfall where 
every possible effort is demanded to receive and conserve all the 
water that falls. If that be the case he has to cultivate to conserve 
moisture both winter and summer and should not think even of 
winter vegetables in the orchard. 

Perhaps the chief objection to winter vegetable growing is due 
to the fact that the crop is planted too late and is allowed to occupy 
the ground so late in the spring that the soil cannot be brought into 
fine tilth which is necessary to save moisture. Instead of this, the 
impacted ground on which the vegetables stood is turned up in 
clods which no amount of crushing will reduce to tilth and the 
orchard loses by defective cultivation more moisture than the vege- 
tables consumed in their growth. 

The summer growth of vegetables in the orchard is a more 
dangerous operation and whether it should be undertaken or not 
depends upon local conditions previously outlined. Perhaps a spe- 
cific instance may enforce the point and show what may be taken 
as favored soil and moisture conditions. In the lower lands of the 
Santa Clara valley near San Jose there have been constant contri- 
butions to fertility by overflows from mountain water bringing leaf 
mold and other materials found in the deposits of "slum," which 
renew and keep up the fertility of the soil. Much of this land has 



WHEN IS INTER-PLANTING REASONABLE? 91 

been under cultivation forty years and upwards, and yet is known 
as garden soil. Much of this land is adobe, naturally remarkably 
productive, aside from its benefits from overflow. Such soils have 
proved able to produce, without apparent exhaustion, orchard trees 
and the crops that are grown among them. There is an abundance 
of artesian water for use when needed. It has been a common 
custom in this artesian belt, so noted for strawberries, to grow 
onions on the ridges between strawberry rows, and along the sides 
of other berry bushes. Onions are thus grown during several suc- 
cessive years until the ground is too crowded. Beets, carrots, peas, 
and other vegetables are sometimes grown among the berries. 
Crops of onion seed have been grown among the trees of young 
orchards without irrigation and the trees have done quite as well 
as when they had the ground all to themselves. Free use of the 
cultivator has kept the ground loose and moist, after one or two 
plowings. By irrigating in the fall, the ground can be plowed so 
as to start peas, potatoes, onions and other hardy vegetables for 
holiday sale, if the land is not liable to flooding in the late fall and 
has only light frosts until mid-winter. 

Such land will carry all growths that can find standing room 
on it, and fruit trees will not be injured by the inter-cropping. 
Similar conditions are found on low, moist valley lands in many 
parts of the state, both in the coast and the interior valleys. The 
land has such wealth of plant food and moisture that summer 
weed-killing, which is not common in California, is quite a prob- 
lem. Where weeds will grow in spite of ordinarily good summer 
cultivation, the land will stand almost covering with useful plants 
and it costs little more to grow them than to keep down the won- 
derful weeds. 

But of course in inter-cropping all soils due regard must be 
given to maintaining fertility by manuring — even very rich soil will 
not always endure inter-cropping, and poor soil will soon make it 
unprofitable. Where hardy legumes like peas and brood beans can 
be grown to advantage their roots and straw add to fertility and 
they may pay their way thereby. But as a rule, inter-cropping 
should be undertaken, if at all, on a basis of generous manuring 
and ample water supply at low cost. The effort also demands 
definite knowledge of the handling which the crop requires — other- 
wise a man is apt to emerge from a speculative venture at inter- 
cropping with more wisdom than money. 



CHAPTER X. 
THE PLANTING SEASON. 

The chapter on California climates as related to vegetable 
growing has already shown that there is really no closed season in 
the state except in the mountain districts. It is always time to 
plant something, if the moisture is available, for there is no degree 
of cold realized which endangers the hardier vegetables. It is 
true that in December and January in the regions of heavy rainfall, 
there is apt to be a cold, wet surface soil which does not give a 
hospitable welcome either to seed or seedlings, but even this can be 
overcome by using lighter soil at a little higher elevation or by the 
devices for raising the seed-bed unless one wishes to wait for Febru- 
ary planting as is commonly done in such places. The antithesis 
of the December and January cold is the July and August heat 
and drought in the interior, but this, too, is conquerable by irriga- 
tion, with added shade for some tender-leafed plants, or by choos- 
ing moist, low land, of which California valleys both on the coast 
and in the interior have great areas. The conclusion of the whole 
matter is that CaHfornia valleys and foothills are naturally fitted 
for almost endless succession of sowings and gatherings and such 
temporary unfitness as locally occurs is easily overcome by very 
simple cultural arts and provisions. Still there are best times for 
doing things for specific purposes and many of these can only be 
learned by local experience. An attempt will be made, however, to 
give hints to newcomers, or to the many who have not essayed 
vegetable growing and have thus neglected glorious opportunities, 
which will enable them to realize, it is hoped, some direction in 
which promising efforts may be put forth. 

Seasonable Work in the Garden. — In view of the fact already 
emphasized that the planting season extends throughout the year 
and is regulated by local conditions and not by the calendar, it fol- 
lows that other garden work constantly recurs, and it would be a 
hopeless task to attempt to specify certain times at which certain 
work should be done. The vegetable grower must use his own 
powers of observation and common sense, and not expect to find 
in print the injunction that on a certain day he must do a certain 
thing. It may be possible to make such prescriptions in more 
steady-going climates, but in our diverse local climates, which are 
either forcing or retarding, according to localities, and according 
to times of the year in the same locality, it is impossible to say just 
when a crop planted at a certain time should be hoed or cultivated, 
trained up or gathered, and the ground cleared up for other uses. 
All such acts will be omitted from our California garden calendar, 
[92] 



THINGS ALWAYS DESIRABLE 93 

Let it be understood, rather, that the grower must be always on the 
alert to do certain things without suggestion from any one, viz. : 

First : Stir the ground as soon as it will take tools well after 
the young plants have appeared above the surface, and thin the 
plants in the row to allow proper space for attaining good size. 
With some strong growing shoots from large, deeply covered seeds, 
it may be sometimes desirable to lightly harrow or rake the whole 
surface before the shoots appear: it is better to break off some 
shoots than to have them all under a crust. Light, mellow soil can, 
of course, be raked sooner after rain or irrigation than heavy soil — 
the latter must not be disturbed when sticky or sodden. 

Second : Continue stirring afterward whenever the soil works 
well, for weed killing if there be any; if not stir the surface just 
the same. 

Third : Continue stirring so long as the cultivator does not 
seriously injure the plant by breaking its stems and foliage, and 
then use the hoe carefully to prevent the ground becoming com- 
pacted near the stem in places not reached by the cultivator. 

Fourth : Keep the condition of the plant constantly in sight 
and thought, to train or trim its growth to attain best results. Such 
treatment for each plant will naturally be noted in the place devoted 
to its special consideration later. 

Fifth : Watch for the attainment of such degree of maturity 
as makes each plant most desirable for food purposes. The slack 
gardener is apt to allow his vegetables to become stale or over-ripe 
in the rows, and in that way miss their best estate. 

Sixth : Gather promptly and dispose of each, either by eating 
or selling, when it reaches this condition and quickly clear away the 
remains of the growth for stock feed or for the compost heap. 
Do not allow the plants to stand for the purpose of gathering seed 
from the culls which are rejected at picking. Select the earliest and 
best specimens for seed if any seed is to be saved. It is, however, 
only in exceptional cases that the farm gardener should save his 
own seed. It is better to buy up-to-date varieties from those who 
make a business of selection and improvement of garden varieties. 
Keep the garden always clean and ready for something else. It 
is a mistake to let the garden lie neglected until the time for a 
spring revolution and upheaval, like that which eastern gardeners 
are forced to content themselves with. Of course, the error of 
stirring the soil when too wet must be carefully guarded against, 
but there is much besides digging involved in gardening. 

Seventh : Irrigate, if necessary, and work the soil at once after 
cleaning up. Do not lose moisture by allowing the surface to be- 
come hard. No matter whether the ground is to be used for an 
immediate succession or whether it is to lie for some time, break 
up the surface and make it fit to receive water or retain water, as 
the case may be. 



94 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

These timely and important acts will not appear in our cal- 
endar for the reasons first stated. They are always in order in 
California, and if a man has to be told more than once to do them, 
there are serious doubts of his ever having been called to be a 
vegetable grower. 

CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 

As shown in the chapter on climate, the timeliness of certain 
operations in California is not regulated by geography nor latitude, 
but by topography and environment, by moisture-conditions, either 
natural or acquired, and by the beginning and ending of the frost- 
free period. The broken country of the northwest quarter of the 
state, and the mountain elevations which are everywhere liable to 
snowfall, constitute regions which differ from the coast valley, in- 
terior valley and foothill regions both north and south, and are, 
therefore, to a certain degree out of our calculation, though an effort 
will be made to include some recognition of their practice. The 
outline to be made of timely work is intended to cover the state in 
all parts except where wintry conditions in greater or less degree 
intrude. 

Our seasons, shading into each other without striking division 
lines, make it necessary to select a somewhat arbitrary point of 
beginning for a garden calendar. The point midway between the 
closing of one rainy season and the beginning of another is, by 
virtue of its drought-and-heat-effects on the rainfall garden, and 
its heat-effects even on ground kept moist by irrigation or under- 
flow, the time when garden growth is about at its lowest point. It 
is also a time when preparations are to be made for the earliest 
sowing. The arrangement is somewhat arbitrary, as confessed 
above, but it accords best with all matters involved to look upon 
the month of July as the beginning of the California year in vege- 
table growing. 

JULY. 

On ground moistened anew by underflow from rising rivers 
or by percolation from irrigation ditches on higher orchard slopes, 
or on land cleared of an earlier crop, irrigated and well worked, it 
is possible to plant vegetables in July for late fall or winter use. 
String beans, beets, carrots, corn, peas, parsnips, potatoes, salsify, 
squashes, turnips, etc., will all come on rapidly if adequate moisture 
is furnished and frosts are reasonably late. Melons are also suc- 
cessfuly thus sown and with heat enough will mature in Septem- 
ber from July planting. Near the coast, or in the interior, with 
shade, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes and other salads will thrive. 
Cabbage and cauliflower seed sown in proper beds or boxes, soon 
give plants for later setting which will mature for Christmas and 



WAYS WITH THE MONTHS 95 

on through the early winter; if not caught by frost, tomatoes will 
also come through from such a start. 

AUGUST. 

Corn and potatoes planted in August may still have time to 
reach satisfactory condition of maturity, except where frosts are 
expected early. Cabbage and cauliflower seed will give plants for 
proper winter succession ; turnips on irrigated ground will also give 
winter crop. Onion seed may be sown for sets. August is a sort 
of divide in garden work. It is rather late to sow for fall use and 
rather soon to sow for winter use, and still August planting is prac- 
ticed by many where local conditions take kindly to it. 

SEPTEMBER. 

Planting must still proceed upon moisture by irrigation, and 
planting for early winter use is still in order. The soil should be 
soaked deeply — to a depth of two feet, so that seedlings in the case 
of delayed rain may have moisture rising from below to keep them 
going. But irrigation must also be used as needed in addition to the 
initial soaking. Seeds should usually be covered a little more deeply 
than later in the rainy season. Peas started with irrigation and car- 
ried until rainfall is adequate will be ready for Christmas in regions 
where only light frosts occur, for peas are quite hardy. Cabbage 
and cauliflower should be sown in the seedbed for succession of 
plants — in some places they grow slowly and can be taken out for 
planting until February. Beets and salsify will start for use the 
following spring time and early summer, and potatoes will be "new" 
for the holidays. Lettuce and onions can be sown in place or plants 
may be grown in a seed bed for planting out after the rains come. 
In strictly frostless places, string beans, egg plant, and tomatoes are 
planted for very early crop. 

OCTOBER. 

It is still time to plant beets, cabbage, radishes, spinach, onions, 
lettuce, turnips and salsify for midwinter and spring use. Peas of 
early variety may still make the Christmas table in a favorable 
locality. Beans, egg plant, and tomatoes are still sown for early 
crop in frostless places. 

NOVEMBER. 

Still plant for succession. Peas, lettuce, radishes, cabbage, 
onions, beets, spinach, salsify, turnips. The coast valleys are now 
usually moist enough to carry all these hardy vegetables without 



96 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

irrigation, for late winter and early spring use. Asparagus roots 
are in shape for planting. Potatoes, in places with only light frosts, 
and beans, egg plant and tomatoes, in frostless places, are planted 
for early crop. 

DECEMBER, 

The higher lands of the interior valley are usually ready for 
the rainfall garden. Beets, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, 
onions, peas, radishes, spinach and turnips are hardy, though some 
roots sown at this time will in some places go to seed in the spring 
instead of enlarging. Potatoes are planted on slopes, well out of 
hard frosts. In northerly coast valleys the soil is often too cold 
and wet to make seed sowing wise. In such places the growth gets 
a poor start. This depends greatly, however, upon the character 
of the rainy season for that particular year. 

JANUARY. 

On w^armer, drier valley lands in regions of light rainfall or 
on protected hillsides plantings of beets, cabbage, carrots, peas, tur- 
nips, lettuce, radishes and onions are usually wise. In colder re- 
gions lettuce and onions and radishes are hardy, and thrive if raised 
out of the wet, and cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, celery, tomato 
seed should go into seed beds to grow plants for later planting out. 
Asparagus, horesradish and rhubarb roots can be planted out in 
well-drained ground. It is the first great potato planting month for 
regions of light rainfall or on warm, well-drained slopes in regions 
of heavier rains. But on low valley lands in wet regions, January 
is often stormy and cold for open-air work, as has just been said 
of December. 

FEBRUARY. 

February is the great planting month, for everything but the 
very tender plants, like beans, tomatoes, peppers, the squash family, 
etc., can now proceed with assurance of adequate heat and moisture. 
It is the month for the dilatory man who has missed his earliest 
opportunities to fill the ground with seed of hardy vegetables, and 
it is the time when plantings in small frosty and rainy valleys, which 
have been deferred because the ground was too cold and wet to 
start seeds and plants well, may be confidently made. Successions 
and rotations are in order, as the fall-planted vegetables are cleared 
away. Early small plantings of string-beans, melons and cucumbers 
will often carry through or can be easily replanted if the frost 
catches them. Potatoes are widely planted and will seldom be 





I I >i I ;il Experiment Station 

Pulling cek-rv plants from seed-bed and transplanting to deep furrows 
in the field.— Page 180. 



WAYS WITH THE MONTHS 97 

killed, though they may be cut back, except on low ground, which 
should be planted later. Chicory is sown, and sowing of sugar beets 
as a field crop for the factory, begins in February, on the warmer, 
drier lands. 



MARCH. 

Later plantings of all sorts of hardy vegetables for succes- 
sion is pursued. The venturesome on higher, warmer lands try 
corn, melons, squashes, tomatoes, and continue planting beans. 
Cantaloups are planted for main crop in Imperial valley. Sugar 
beets are largely sown for factory use. Sweet potatoes should go 
into the hot-bed for slipping. 

APRIL. 

April is another month for succession planting of hardy vege- 
tables, but it is getting late except where moisture is ample and late 
showers quite certain. Tender plants are out of serious danger 
except in especially frosty places. Beans can be confidently planted. 
Peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, sweet potatoes and other growths 
started under cover can be brought to the open ground. Corn, 
melons and squashes can be safely planted as field crops. The sea- 
son's race is well along in its last quarter, and heat and drought have 
already made hay and are ripening the grain. 

MAY. 

Everything for which there can be assured ample moisture 
can still be planted in the moderate heat of the coast regions, but 
it is late for shallow-rooting plants to take hold in the interior heat, 
even with irrigation. Heat-loving plants, like watermelons, corn, 
sweet potatoes, etc., will grow grandly with moisture enough. On 
the coast, Lima beans, sugar beets for late crop, corn and roots for 
fall use will do well if well cultivated. All planting now which is 
well taken care of will carry its verdure and its crop to refresh the 
grower in the midst of the dry season. It is a time to seek and use 
moist land or to count on soon employing the fullest irrigation 
facilities the place affords. 

JUNE. 

June completes the garden year. It is the last chance to plant, 
and it is useless to plant at all except on land moist naturally or 
by irrigation. On such lands in the interior beans are largely 
planted and tomatoes for late crop on moist land are started from 
seed-bed plants. It is the last chance to get a second crop on land 



98 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

which has given produce. In the garden clear up all that has 
matured of the winter plantings, irrigate well, plow and quickly 
fine the surface and put in beans, beets, cabbage plants, corn, melons, 
potatoes, squash, tomato plants, and a succession of small truck, and 
be sure that they do not lack moisture, or their courses will be short 
and unprofitable. 

TABULAR SHOWINGS OF TIMES OF PLANTING. 

To afiford the reader a condensed view of the facts noted in 
the foregoing suggestions for the months, tabular showings are pre- 
pared. These are not made from theoretical generalizations, but 
are prepared from records of actual practice which the writer has 
been collecting for the last forty years. The work of several hun- 
dred growers is condensed into the tables which follow. Separate 
showings are made for southern California and for the valley and 
foothill portions of the upper part of the state. It will be seen that 
they strikingly agree. There are practically frostless regions near 
the coast in southern California which are not found elsewhere in 
the state, although it is only with the tenderest growths that the 
difference becomes apparent. Other vegetables take about the same 
courses in early regions, both north and south. Still it is well to 
reduce the fact to a set of records such as these tables embody. 

TIMES FOR PLANTING CERTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND FOOTHILL 
REGIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Beans * * *2 *2 *2 *3 *3 * * * 

Beets ************ 

Cabbage * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Carrots **** ******* 

Cauliflower .............. * . . * * '.'. * * * * * * * 

Celery * * * * 

Qorn * * *^ *^ * * * 

Cucumbers * *^ * * . . * 

Eggplant *2 . . *= *2 *2 * * * * 

Lettuce * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Melons * *^ *^ * * * 

Potatoes * * * *2 *■ . . * * * * * * 

Potatoes, Sweet * * * 

Radishes * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Soinach ************ 

Squash * *^ * * * 

Tomatoes *- *^ *'^ *2 *2 . . *2 *2 *3 * * * 



' On naturally moist or irrigated land. 

' Frostless situations near southern coast. 

' Taking the chances of occasional frost and replanting in some places. 



TIMES FOR PLANTING 99 

TIMES FOR PLANTING CERTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND FOOTHILL 
REGIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



>^ iio ii -i-i > cj G jD b 'C 



3 



Beans * * * * 

Beets * * * * * 

Cabbage * * * * * .. * * * * 

Carrots * * .. * .. .. * * * * 

Cauliflower * * .. * .. .. * * * * 

Celery * * * 

Corn * 

Cucumbers * * 

Eggplant 

Lettuce * * * * * * * * * * 

Melons * * 

Onions * * * * * * * * * 

Potatoes * * * * * * * 

Potatoes, Sweet * * 

Salsify * * * * 

Spinach * * * 

Squash * * 

Tomatoes * 



THE FROST FACTOR. 

The intrusion of the frost period is a local Hmitation of the 
planting season. Each vegetable grower should keep records of 
frost occurrence for his own guidance in future operations and for 
the public benefit, for the government weather service is very 
anxious to get local observations on this point. 

During the last decade the San Francisco office of the United 
States Weather Bureau has given particular attention to frost 
phenomena, including conditions of occurrence and prevention, and 
the publications by the Bureau comprise the best knowledge on the 
subject. 

The discussion in the chapter on California Climate as Related 
to Vegetable Growing shows that weather conditions are every- 
where dependent to a degree on local topography and environment, 
even though there are regional characters which must be under- 
stood. In this place it is fitting to emphasize especially the dates 
at which killing frosts have occurred in a large number of localities, 
because such dates are seldom accurately remembered even in the 
localities concerned. The table which we have compiled and ar- 
ranged in our own way, according to districts, from data kindly 
furnished by the Weather Bureau, should be studied with the fol- 
lowing points in view : 

♦ On irrigated or naturally moist low land. 



100 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

First. The dates represent the first and last dates of kilHng 
frosts in each place during a decade. In most cases probably the 
dates are not in the same year. We wish to show the "worst ever" 
at each place. 

Second. Obviously, then, frosts at such dates are not to be 
often expected, and planters may usually take the risk of planting 
somewhat earlier and having tender plants mature somewhat later, 
as will be discussed in the next chapter. At the same time large 
plantings for a main or standard crop should be generally held back 
for the local frost-free period which the dates in the tables supply 
for each place. 

Third. Always remember, however, that there may be situa- 
tions adjacent to the place where the record is made in which frost 
may be earlier or later, or both, according to the variations in local 
topography, exposure, etc., as explained in the chapter on Climate. 
There are also a few widely separated situations which may be con- 
sidered almost, if not quite, frostless. 

Fourth. The tables give the elevation in feet above sea level 
in each case. This factor does influence frost occurrence in a large 
way, but local frost phenomena are often determined by the relative 
elevation of situations in the same vicinity and by other conditions 
of topography affecting the movement of cold air and counter cur- 
rents, perhaps, of warm air. 

Fifth. Thus it should appear that after all the writer can do 
to help the reader determine what his planting practice should be 
with reference to frost occurrence, it still remains with the latter to 
do all that he can to understand his immediate spot of land through 
the teaching of his own observation and experience. 

DATES OF SPRING AND FALL KILLING FROSTS AT PLACES NAMED. 
Location and County Elevation 

Upper Coast Region 

Crescent City, Del Norte 50 

Eureka, Humboldt 64 

Upper Mattole, Humboldt 244 

Ukiah, Mendocino 620 

Fort Bragg, Mendocino 74 

Fort Ross, Sonoma 100 

Cloverdale, Sonoma 340 

Santa Rosa, Sonoma 181 

Peachland, Sonoma 220 

Sonoma, Sonoma 30 

Calistoga, Napa 363 

Napa, Napa 60 

Upper Lake, Lake 1350 

Sacramento Valley and Foothills 

Redding, Shasta 552 

Red Bluff, Tehama 307 

Rosewood, Tehama. 865 



Latest 


Earliest 


Spring 


Autumn 


June 


19 


Sept. 


30 


May 


1 


Nov. 


7 


Apr. 


26 


Oct. 


20 


May 


2 


Oct. 


16 


Mar. 


18 


Nov. 


5 


Mar. 


21 


Dec. 


18 


Mar. 


25 


Nov. 


2 


May 


10 


Oct. 


29 


Apr. 


11 


Oct. 


18 


Apr. 


12 


Dec. 


2 


May- 


1 


Oct. 


1 


Mar. 


30 


Nov. 


7 


Apr. 


23 


Sept. 


29 


May 


1 


Oct. 


17 


Apr. 


19 


Nov. 


'/ 


Apr. 


12 


Oct. 


4 



DATES OF FROST OCCURRENCE 101 

Latest Earliest 

Location and County Elevation Spring Autumn 

Sacramento Valley and Foothills 

— Continued 

Corning, Tehama 277 Mar. 26 Nov. 2 

Chico, Butte 193 Apr. 10 Nov. 6 

Durham, Butte 160 Apr. 4 Oct. 22 

Biggs, Butte 98 May 10 Nov. 23 

Oroville, Butte 250 Apr. 30 Nov. 23 

Palermo, Butte 213 Apr. 7 Nov. 14 

Fruto, Glenn 624 Apr. 4 Nov. 23 

Willows, Glenn 136 Apr. 26 Nov. 28 

Dunnigan, Yolo 65 Feb. 25 Nov. 24 

Guinda, Yolo 350 May 1 Nov. 16 

Woodland, Yolo 63 Apr. 26 Nov. 26 

Davis, Yolo 51 Apr. 4 Oct. 22 

Vacaville, Solano 175 Apr. 4 Nov. 24 

Elmira, Solano 75 Apr. 4 Oct. 26 

Suisun, Solano 20 Apr. 4 Nov. 13 

Sacramento, Sacramento 35 Apr. 26 Oct. 17 

Folsom, Sacramento 252 Apr. 1 1 Nov. 24 

Wheatland, Yuba 84 Apr. 9 Nov. 7 

Auburn, Placer 1360 May 2 Oct. 15 

Colfax, Placer 2421 May 1 Dec. 5 

Eldorado, Eldorado 1609 Apr. 26 Dec. 20 

Placerville, Eldorado 1820 Apr. 28 Nov. 28 

Georgetown, Eldorado 2650 May 1 Oct. 15 

Nevada City, Nevada 2580 May 30 Sept. 29 

North Bloomfield, Nevada 3200 May 22 Oct. 1 

Jackson, Amador 1900 Apr. 28 Oct. 14 

Central Coast Region 

San Francisco, San Francisco 207 Mar. 27 Dec. 18 

Oakland, Alameda 36 Feb. 15 Dec. 15 

Berkeley, Alameda 320 Feb. 19 Dec. 14 

Niles, Alameda 87 Apr. 29 Oct. 17 

San Leandro, Alameda 50 Mar. 28 Nov. 24^ 

Livermore, Alameda 485 Apr. 12 Nov. 9 

Menlo Park, San Mateo 64 Feb. 13 Dec. 18 

San Jose, Santa Clara 95 Apr. 9 Oct. 22 

Santa Clara, Santa Clara 90 Apr. 9 Nov. 24 

Los Gatos, Santa Clara 600 Mar. 8 Dec. 9 

Gilroy, Santa Clara 193 May 1 1 Nov. 6 

Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz 20 Apr. 1 Nov. 23 

Laurel, Santa Cruz 910 Mar. 12 Oct. 24 

Aptos, Santa Cruz 102 Mar. 31 Oct. 31 

Watsonville, Santa Cruz 23 Apr. 8 Sept. 22 

HoUister, San Benito 284 Apr. 22 Oct. 17 

SaHnas, Monterey 40 Apr. 1 Nov, 21 

Soledad, Monterey 183 Feb. 13 Nov. 30 

San Ardo, Monterey 236 Apr. 10 Dec. 9 

San Miguel, San Luis Obispo 616 Mar. 8 Oct. 22 

Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo 800 Apr. 26 Oct. 30 

San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo 201 May 18 Oct. 18 

San Joaquin Valley and Foothills 

Antioch, Contra Costa 46 Feb. 1 Dec. 5 

Lodi, San Joaquin 35 Apr. 9 Oct. 18 

Tracy, San Joaquin 64 Mar. 14 Nov. 24 

Milton, Calaveras 660 Apr. 7 Nov. 29 

Mokelumne, Calaveras 1550 Apr. 28 Nov. 17 



102 



CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Location and County Elevation 

San Joaquin Valley and Foothills 

— Continued 

West Point, Calaveras 2326 

Jackson, Amador 1900 

Merced, Merced 173 

Fresno, Fresno 293 

Selma, Fresno 311 

Kingsburg, Fresno 301 

Hanford, Kings 249 

Visalia, Tulare 334 

Lemon Grove, Tulare 600 

Porterville, Tulare 461 

Tulare, Tulare 274 

Dinuba, Tulare 335 

Southern California 

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara 130 

Santa Paula, Ventura 350 

Los Angeles, Los Angeles 293 

Anaheim, Orange 134 

Riverside, Riverside 851 

San Jacinto, Riverside 1550 

Redlands, San Bernardino 1352 

Escondido, San Diego 657 

Poway, San Diego 460 

El Cajon, San Diego 482 

Campo, San Diego 2543 

Mountain Regions 

Sisson, Siskiyou 3555 

Cedarville, Modoc 4675 

Susanville, Lassen 4195 

Laporte, Plumas 5000 

Greenville, Plumas 3600 

Boca, Nevada 5531 

Summerdale, Mariposa 5270 

Lick Observatory, Santa Clara 4209 

Tehachapi, Kern 3964 

Cuyamaca, San Diego 4543 



Latest 


Earliest 


Spring 


Autumn 


June 


15 


Oct. 


7 


Apr. 


28 


Oct. 


14 


Mar. 


28 


Nov. 


28 


Mar. 


31 


Nov, 


11 


Mar. 


31 


Oct. 


20 


Apr. 


28 


Dec. 


23 


Apr. 


29 


Oct. 


25 


Apr. 


11 


Nov. 


16 


Feb. 


16 


Dec. 


9 


Mar. 


10 


Nov. 


26 


Apr. 


11 


Oct. 


20 


May 


2 


Nov. 


27 


Mar. 


18 


Nov. 


30 


Feb. 


16 


Dec. 


12 


Mar. 


9 


Dec. 


13 


Apr. 


17 


Dec. 


12 


Apr. 


2 


Nov. 


12 


Apr. 


8 


Nov. 


25 


Apr. 


9 


Nov. 


24 


^^ar. 


18 


Dec. 


7 


Feb. 


15 


Nov. 


18 


Mar. 


14 


Nov. 


19 


June 


17 


Sept. 


17 


July 


6 


Sept. 


13 


June 


24 


Aug. 


30 


June 


22 


Sept. 


8 


lulv 


6 


Sept. 


6 


June 


11 


Aug. 


20 


May 


1 


Oct. 


2 


June 


15 


Sept. 


25 


May 


25 


Oct. 


2 


Apr. 


11 


Nov. 


20 


July 


11 


Sept. 


5 



The general reader, after studying the foregoing data, may 
conclude that in nearly all the valley districts of California there is 
little difference in the length of the absolute frost-free period; also 
that elevation influences temperature similarly in all parts of the 
state. At elevations below 1500 feet, which is the point at which 
foothills begin to shade into mountains, there are about two-thirds 
of the whole year in which even the tenderest vegetation may be 
considered practically safe from injury from frost, and particular 
situations in which the frost-free period is even longer. On the 
other hand, there are mountain valleys, with good soil and sunshine 
and ample total heat for vegetables, in which tender plants must 
be always protected, because frost may occur every month in the 
year. 



VEGETABLES AND FROST 103 

The Endurance of Different Vegetables. — The degree of cold 
which plants will survive depends upon several considerations and 
conditions, involving state of air, moisture and of the plant itself, 
which makes it impossible to fix the injury point of a plant definitely. 
There is, however, practical value in the following compilation made 
from reports by Pacific Coast growers as to the effect of our style 
of low temperatures, the temperatures being given as nearly as pos- 
sible those in contact with the plant itself. 

TEMPERATURE AT WHICH CERTAIN PLANTS ARE LIABLE TO RECEIVE 
INJURY FROM FROSTS. 

Plant Degrees Fahrenheit Plant Degrees Fahrenheit 

Asparagus 29 Beans 31 

Cantaloups 32 Celery 28 

Cucumbers 32 Onions 28 

Potatoes 30 Sweet Potatoes 31 

Spinach 21 Squash 31 

Turnips 26 Watermelons 31 

Not Always Freezing at 32 Degrees. — In connection with the 
endurance of vegetables, it should be noted that in parts of Cali- 
fornia freezing effects are not produced by a temperature of 32 
degrees. This is in accordance with a deduction from wide studies 
of frost occurrence by P. C. Day, Chief of Climatological Division 
of the U. S. Weather Bureau, as follows : "Cool nights are a fea- 
ture of all arid regions, due to intense radiation made possible by 
the generally clear skies and lack of moisture in the atmosphere. 
As a result of these conditions the temperature in the early morning 
hours may frequently reach the freezing point, but its continuance 
may not be for a length of time sufficient to injure the plant struc- 
ture ; in fact, owing to the dryness of the air, frost does not always 
form with a temperature of 32 degrees or even several degrees 
lower, and in addition plant life subjected to such variations in tem- 
perature becomes more hardy and lower temperatures are required 
to cause serious injury. On the other hand, in the more humid 
regions the radiation at night is less rapid, the nights as a rule are 
not so markedly cold, plant life is less hardy, frost forms readily 
at the freezing point, the same degree of cold is often protracted 
over much longer periods of time, and vegetation is, therefore, 
more seriously affected."* 

SUCCESSIONS AND ROTATIONS IN CALIFORNIA GARDENS. 

Naturally, an all-the-year growing season suggests constant use 
of the ground and the possibility of turning the soil over several 
times in the course of the year. This can be done by quick revolu- 
tion, like the following: 

Where water is handy two, three, or even four crops can be grown on the 
same ground in the year. Start April 1 and sow the plot to lettuce, and with 

•Frost data of the United States Bulletin V, U. S. Weather Bureau, 1911. 



104 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

proper cultivation it will mature in two months. Resow with turnip-radish, 
which is a good summer variety. These will be fit to use in three weeks, or 
by the first week of July, when the ground will be ready for late cucumbers 
which will occupy the ground until the first frost, or till the nights become too 
cold for them to fruit. Now plant to carrots, beets, or onion sets, and any of 
them will be ready for use in February or March. Here we have four crops 
within twelve months, and no two of them occupying the ground at the same 
time. There are other combinations that would do as well. 

Though this rapid work is quite feasible, as shown, and many 
plants can enter into such combinations, the two crop plan will prob- 
ably be as fast movement as most farm gardeners will keep up with, 
and that consists in fall sowing of hardy vegetables for winter and 
spring use, followed by spring planting of tender vegetables for 
summer and fall use. Occasionally there will be intervals in this 
rotation for a third or catch crop of lettuce, radish, etc., which takes 
a very short time. This will be a vast improvement on the present 
popular conception of gardening possibilities, and if the hint of a 
fall crop of tender vegetables like melons, beans, corn, etc., planted 
in July to come on fast in the heat, followed by fall planting of the 
hardy list for winter use, these two crops will be gained before the 
outbreak of the usual "garden fever,'' which rallies all garden forces 
in February and March. The agencies to demonstrate this broader 
conception of our gardening possibilities are Will and Work and 
Water, to which allusion has been made in a previous chapter. 

Family Garden Programmes. — It will surprise anyone who 
carries out rapid succession of plantings to see how much desirable 
food can be secured from a very small area. An enthusiastic 
gardener at Lakeside, San Diego county, reported that his garden 
of fifty feet square supplied enough vegetables, excepting potatoes, 
for a large family, and required less than half a day's attention 
during a week. He grew the following vegetables, planting each 
month in the year as follows : 

January — After the 20th, turnips, cabbage seed, carrots, lettuce, peas. 
February — Radishes, beets, salsify, spinach, onion seed or sets. 
March — Potatoes (in field), turnips, cabbage, lettuce, peas, cabbage plants. 
April — Cucumbers, watermelons, muskmelons, squashes, tomato plants, 
radishes, beets, salsify, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, cabbage seed. 
May — Carrots, lettuce, peas, onion seed or sets. 
June — Radishes, beets, beans, corn, salsify, cabbage plants. 
July — Carrots, lettuce, cabbage seed. 
August — Potatoes (in field), corn, beans, radishes. 
September — Cabbage plants, peas, turnips, salsify, carrots. 
October — Beets, beans, onion sets, lettuce. 
November — Turnips, spinach, salsify. 
December — Winter radishes, peas, lettuce. 

He has the advantage of a very short period of frosts, and 
light ones at that. He plants in rows eighteen inches apart, irri- 
gates his garden every ten days in trenches and cultivates twice a 
week. In favorable seasons he has natural moisture from Novem- 
ber to April or May. If the rainfall is light he cultivates twice 
a week. 



SUCCESSION OF VEGETABLES 105 

Another arrangement for succession is that practiced by a 
vineyardist in the Santa Cruz mountains, who grows vegetables in 
his vineyard. He plows one furrow in the center, between the vines, 
manured in the furrow and covered with a furrow plowed each 
side. The bed thus formed is planted in November with a row 
thickly sown, of American Wonder Peas, covered with the rake, 
making a smooth place where, about four inches from the peas, are 
planted cabbage, Chinese Rose Winter radishes, onions, lettuce and 
turnip seed, mixed. Other sowings, adding carrots, beans, etc., are 
made, according to the weather, until May. In February he gathers 
radishes and lettuce ; in March, peas. He sells or gives away bushels 
of lettuce and radishes, and has enough to supply a big family from 
March 1 to July. As late as November he gathers beets, carrots, 
turnips and string beans. He has the advantage of a larger winter 
rainfall, and conserves moisture by cultivating between the rows 
every week in dry weather. 



CHAPTER XI. 



PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

From what has been said of the favoring conditions in Cali- 
fornia for open air work and freedom from low temperatures, it 
may be rightly inferred that the higher arts of propagation involv- 
ing the use of acres of glass and the most approved heating devices, 
are not to be found in California. The forcing of vegetables which 
is now commanding such wide effort and investment at the East 
is only undertaken to a limited extent, and although it is increasing 
with our advance in population and wealth, it will always be men- 
aced by the open air work, both in average situations and in f rostless 
localities which are, at present, only worked up to a fraction of their 
capacity. Forcing is, however, accomplished with much less ex- 
pensive structures and heating arrangements than at the East be- 
cause only slight drops in temperature are to be overcome. We 
have also a decided advantage in the large percentage of winter 
sunshine. Forcing is, therefore, relatively cheaper than in wintry 
regions and there may be, ere long, an important industry. Of 
course the same general conditions which discourage forcing with 
us also make elaborate and expensive arrangements for growing 
tender plants for subsequent planting out, unnecessary. Not only 
do hot-beds of the scantiest construction and covering answer local 
purposes, but even their heating materials have to be toned down 
by more slowly fermenting intermixtures and by freer entrance of 
air, lest the growths be overforced. Often, as will be described 
presently, a little bottom heat, with very slight covering above, is all 
that conditions require to bring forward and protect tender seed- 
lings until it is safe for them to take their chances under kind skies. 

TESTING SEED BEFORE PLANTING. 

One should know the viability of seed before risking his labor 
upon it. The following is a current account of a simple test suited 
to the needs of amateurs : 

Take two dinner plates and pieces of cotton flannel. Boil them both to 
destroy any mold spores or fungi they may contain. Upon an up-turned plate 
place a layer of moistened cotton flannel. On this lay the seeds to be tested, 
of the small seed say a hundred, and half the number of large seeds will do. 
Over this place another moistened strip and cover with a similar plate. If 
more than one variety of seed is to be tested at one time another strip may 
be laid on top of the first set, the seed placed and covered as before, using two 
pieces of cloth for each variety. This gives the seed an aerated and more or 
less sterilized germinating bed. Set the plate in a somewhat darkened place 
where temperature of 70 to 80 degrees F. during the day and, if necessary, 
less than 50 degrees F. during the night, may be maintained. The length of 

[106] 



HOW TO PLANT SEEDS 107 

time required for germination will depend largely upon the nature of the seeds, 
from six to ten days usually being required. Where only a small percentage of 
the seed fails to germinate the grower may provide against a poor stand with 
a heavier seeding. Where the percentage germinating is small it is usually 
desirable to try for a better lot of seed before planting. 

GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 

Adequate heat and moisture are essential to germination and 
subsequent growth. The preceeding chapter has shown at what 
times these factors are present in California soil, either by nature 
or artifice of the planter. Heat is almost always adequate for the 
germination of the seed in common vegetables, in well-drained 
surface soil in the California valley regions. Even in our frosty 
weather, the day temperature of the soil is adequate for germination 
except, perhaps, during the colder storms and seldom does our rain 
have too low a temperature. Even in this it is not so much the 
matter of germination as of conditions inhospitable to the subse- 
quent growth of the germs. It makes little practical difference, 
perhaps, whether the seed is killed or the germ perishes after start- 
ing. But the death of either seed or germ is more often due to 
moisture lack or excess, than to temperature conditions. For this 
reason a sowing may go for naught if seeding is done in the fall 
without thorough moistening of the soil by irrigation or rainfall, 
or the same disappointment may follow sowing even seed of hardy 
plants in certain localities in December and January in years of 
heavy rainfall. For these reasons it is all-important that the vege- 
table grower should carefully observe his local conditions of soil, 
heat and moisture and arrive at proper deductions from his own 
experience as to what acts he should perform under his ruling local 
conditions and the peculiar phases of the weather of the particular 
year in which he is acting. And then a vegetable grower, in garden 
practice, which involves succession of small areas, must be enter- 
prisingly venturesome. He must take some chances of losing a 
sowing or planting and of renewing it, and he should always keep 
adequate supplies of seed or seedlings at hand. It is a great deal 
better to lose a sowing than to set up some arbitrary dead-sure date 
for sowing; for with such a policy he will never have anything 
early, and perhaps never anything profitable. Field work for staple 
vegetables is another proposition, but field work for shipment of 
early stuff is always attended by some risk, for the grower has to 
venture everything on doing the best he can to be safe and early, 
but to be early at any rate. 

Although this is true it must be always remembered that noth- 
ing is gained in working the soil or sowing the seed when the soil 
is not in condition to work well. Some results of this bad practice 
have been mentioned in other connections and they are deplorable, 
especially in the heavier soils. It is especially an error of judgment 
in seed sowing to suppose that any time can be gained by sowing 
early upon an unfit seed bed. Even if a fair stand should be secured 



108 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

there will be handicaps upon the plants all through their course, 
and a somewhat later planting with the soil in good condition will 
probably surpass them both in time and quality. 

There is often advantage in soaking seed overnight in tepid 
water. The lighter the soil and the later the sowing the greater 
benefit will accrue from this method of hastening germination. 
When the wet seed is difficult to handle, or when it is to be used 
with a seed-drill, sift some fine ashes over the seed. This will take 
up the surface moisture and allow them to run through the drill 
easily. 

Arranging Moisture Conditions for Germination. — In addition 
to the greater undertakings described in the chapters on irrigation 
and drainage, there are little acts which are of the utmost import- 
ance in securing moisture conditions favorable to germination and 
growth. 

First: Seed covering. Darkness is favorable to germination 
of most seeds, but covering is primarily for two other purposes. 
One is to assist the seedling in its anchorage and root penetration, 
but the more important is to insure it moisture. There can be no 
positive rule for depth of sowing. Five times the diameter of the 
seed might do at the best of the season in the best garden soil, but 
this depth would be too great for some seeds in some soils in the 
rainy season, and far too shallow for the same seed and soil in the 
dry season. On all soils the rule must be shallow sowing, if large 
rainfall is characteristic of the region ; deep sowing if scant rainfall 
is to be expected ; shallow sowing early in the rainy season ; deep 
sowing near its close; shallow sowing on the heavier soil; deep 
sowing on the lighter soils. Late in the season the surface layer 
which is air dried in spite of stirring, does not count as depth at all. 
It must be brushed aside and the seed sown in the moist layer 
beneath whether the sowing is done by hand or with a seed drill. 

Later cultivation will level the soil back around the plant stem 
to assist in retaining moisture below. Conforming to this condition, 
the larger summer-sown seeds should be sown in the light soil of 
the interior valleys at four to six inches deep — twice or three times 
the depth prescribed for the seed in humid climates or in the humid 
side of our own climate. Seeds sown in hills can stand deep plant- 
ing better than when sown singly, as they seem to join their strength 
in uplifting the weight of soil above them. 

Second : Soil firming. This is another act which aids the seed 
in other ways, but is primarily for moisture furnishing. A seed 
thrown into a loose surface layer may germinate and perish for 
lack of moisture and soil-contact or it may lie unquickened until a 
footstep or a shower compacts the earth about it. It may thus lie 
half a year in California. Many amateurs are much too kind in 
their intent and too cruel in their method, by making the surface as 
loose as possible and then gently placing the seed in the loose layer. 
It is better to jump on it with both feet. Whether it be done by 



REQUIREMENTS IN SEED PLANTING 109 

direct tramping or by tramping a narrow board placed upon the 
sown row, or tamped down with a block with a long handle, or by 
using the garden or field roller, or by flat slaps with the back of the 
planting hoe, it matters not; it is only essential that the firming of 
the inclosing layer should be given unless immediate water settling 
of the ground is anticipated. And this firming is conditioned in 
degree upon soil and season just as depth of covering is, viz. : light 
soil or late in season, heaviest firming; heavier soil or early in sea- 
son, lighter firming. The reason for firming is the restoration of 
capillarity to the loose layer, consequently adequate moisture supply 
to the germinating seed. But when this capillarity has served its 
purpose and the root has penetrated the permanently moist layers 
below, this capillarity near the surface must be destroyed by culti- 
vation and the surface layer again loosened so that it will not trans- 
mit moisture. Therefore, as prescribed in an earlier, chapter the 
hoe or cultivator must be started as soon as the young plants can be 
seen, and in some larger seeds where the firmed layer has been 
crusted by a shower a light harrowing or raking may be desirable to 
release the shoots from the too compact covering which has come 
over them. 

Third: Soil opening. The converse of firming the soil about 
the seed is drying of the surface soil when unexpectedly heavy rains 
have come and the water does not percolate rapidly enough to bring 
the surface layer into good condition for growth. In such an event 
seed can often be saved from rotting by the light raking or harrow- 
ing or cutting with a disc, to allow the air to assist drainage in re- 
lieving the surface layer of its excess. The wisdom of this course 
is always conditioned upon the character of the soil. A sticky soil 
might be more harmed than the seed would be helped by it. 

Fourth : Mulching. The use of a light mulch of chafif or cor- 
ral-scrapings or rotten straw or other fine, loose material is of value 
in garden practice if it does not occasion too great cost or labor to 
procure or prepare it. The larger the seed the thicker the layer 
may safely be, and with the mulch, shallower planting and prob- 
ably quicker germination, is possible. The mulch lessens evapora- 
tion from the surface and thus gives the seed a surer supply ; it 
also prevents puddling of the soil surface by pelting rain drops and 
keeps the particles both moist and loose for the thrust of the shoot. 
A mulch also makes it much safer to sprinkle the bed if rains delay. 
In garden practice it can hardly be too highly commended. On 
heavy soils sawdust or sand can be used for this purpose if they are 
the most available materials. Discussion of mulching from other 
points of view is given in Chapter VII. 

Fifth : Irrigation. Starting seeds by irrigation on soil that has 
good capillarity and lateral percolation (or "seeps well" as the 
common phrase is) releases one from several of the injunctions just 
laid down. The covering should be shallow, as the moisture will 
rise to the surface; little firming needs to be done, for the water will 



110 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

settle the soil, and when the moisture is ample, stopping the supply- 
will quickly allow the escape of the surplus. It may sometimes be 
desirable to use a light mulch to protect the surface from baking 
and give the seedlings a few days' more growth before it is neces- 
sary to stir the surface. Seed starting in this way with the raised 
beds and permanent ditches and the ridge irrigation system, all of 
which have been described in the chapter on irrigation, is very satis- 
factory. The application of it to various vegetables will be given 
in the treatment of each. Where the seeds are to be started by 
the furrow system on land that will draw water well laterally, the 
seed can be sown in shallow trenches, leaving the seeds barely cov- 
ered. Then irrigate by turning water into shallow irrigation trenches 
made some twelve or fifteen feet apart. Let the water soak through 
and completely moisten the surface until it has spread across all 
the seed trenches, and until the little clods are broken down and 
dissolved. The seeds are thus well covered and enabled to sprout 
and come up before the soil is dried out. Subsequent cultivation 
levels the ground, giving the seedlings sufficient depth of covering 
and new furrows are plowed for later irrigations. This is only 
one of many ways by which seeds can be started by irrigation. 

GROWTH FROM SEED UNDER COVER. 

This broad title is used to include about all that is done in 
California except under the sky cover. In the chapters on the dif- 
ferent vegetables, which will follow, there will be mentioned special 
propagating methods employed with each, but in this place a few 
protecting and promoting arrangements will be described for the 
benefit of beginners in garden work. 

Seed Boxes. — Seed boxes are the simplest arrangement for 
starting seedlings for subsequent planting out and in most amateur 
gardening in this climate they will comprise about all that is neces- 
sary in the way of construction, because, as will be seen later, it is 
very easy to give them a little bottom heat if the grower desires, but 
they can be largely used without any. The chief advantages of 
starting seedlings in boxes instead of the open ground are the ease 
with which the seed boxes can be carried under protection from 
cold, beating rains or frost, or protected from hot, drying winds or 
too intense sun heat, and the convenience with which moisture con- 
ditions can be regulated by covering and light sprinkling. 

There are no particular dimensions to be observed in making 
seed boxes, except that they should not be too large to be easily 
lifted and carried with their contents. The cases which enclose 
two five-gallon cans of coal oil, sawn in two lengthwise so as to 
make two wide, shallow boxes, serve an excellent purpose. It is 
more convenient to have all the boxes of the same size than to use 
odd sizes, in case it may be desired to group the boxes in a hot-bed 
or otherwise for heat and covering. Be sure that the bottom has 
ample openings for drainage — either cracks or bored holes. The 



THE COLD FRAME 



111 



soil-layer in the boxes should not exceed three inches in depth. In 
ordinary amateur practice a good soil for these boxes can be made 
by taking good rich garden soil as a basis. Add sand and, if possi- 
ble, the light mold from under an old straw stack, leaf mold, finely 
powdered rotted manure, or something similar, until you have a 
rich, friable soil. No definite rule can be given for mixing, except 
that the prepared soil should hold moisture well, have no tendency 
to cake, and never crack in the sun. 

Fill the boxes, and, with a small board, press the soil closely 
and evenly, so that it will retain moisture. The seeds should then 
be sown quickly and evenly over the surface or in lines, and pressed 
down by a smooth board into the soil, so that the seed, be it large 
or small, will form a level surface with the soil. This being done, 
the same prepared soil should be sifted evenly over the top, just 
enough to cover the seed, if it is small, and but little more if it is 
larger. Again press this layer of soil which has covered the seeds 
gently with the smooth board. 

It is a great help to seed to have the surface again covered 
with a light material that would hold moisture, such as dry moss, 
or powdered vegetable matter of any kind which is light and will 
hold moisture. This should be rubbed through a sieve over the 
seed boxes, just thick enough to cover the soil (not more than-one 
sixteenth of an inch). It is very beneficial in the germination of 
the seed, as with such a top-dressing one watering with a fine rose 
watering-pot will keep the soil moist enough usually until the seeds 
come up. It is a great mistake to be continually watering seeds 
after they have been sown. The rule in all these things is never to 
water until brushing the litter from the surface indicates that the 
soil is dry. 

A Cold Frame. — The arrangement which comes next to the 
seed box in simplicity is the cold frame. It is simply for the pur- 
pose of concentrating sun heat and protection from low tempera- 
tures and heavy rain storms. It is a convenient receptacle for the 
seed boxes already described, or it may be put over seeds sown in 
the ground — the soil being prepared to receive the seed in about the 
same way already described for filling the boxes. The frame is 
made of inch boards, the front board about twelve inches wide, the 
back board or boards eighteen inches wide and the sides sloping 
about six inches to meet the widths of the front and back boards. 
The frame is usually made three feet from front to rear (for con- 
venience in working from the front, but can be of any length de- 
sired). For large scale work, the frames are usually made larger — 
say four or five feet wide and twenty feet long. This frame is cov- 
ered with glazed sash or cloth frames or lath frames or first one 
and then another, according to the amount of protection and heat 
or of shade desirable. The arrangement is called a "cold frame" 
because no provision is made for bottom-heat. There are many 
modifications of the cold frame; lath or slat houses or lath covers 



112 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

for beds with raised edging boards, etc., etc., are all on the cold 
frame principle, and in this climate, where so little increment of 
heat is required and where shade is often desirable, the arrange- 
ment serves an excellent purpose. 

The Hot-bed. — The hot-bed consists of a box of dimensions like 
those described for a cold frame, which is placed above a mass of 
fermenting manure which supplies bottom heat. The old regula- 
tion style of hot-bed was made by digging out a pit the size of the 
frame, throwing out the soil to a depth of eighteen inches or two 
feet. Fill in the excavation with a foot depth of fresh horse ma- 
nure mixed with straw as it comes from a stable where the animals 
are well bedded with straw. Tread the manure down firmly ; put 
on the frame and cover the manure with eight to ten inches of 
good light and rich sandy loam that will not bake or crust over 
when sprinkled with water. Bank up the outside of the frame 
with the same kind of manure used inside, and cover with window 
sashes of the proper length to reach across the bed and rest on the 
sides. The sashes should not be too wide as it is desirable to un- 
cover part of the bed at a time. As soon as the manure begins to 
ferment and heat the bed is ready for use. Sow seeds in rows from 
front to back of the bed, and germination will be very rapid. On 
warm days the cover should be lifted a little or partially or wholly 
removed, according to the heat of the day and the activity of the 
bottom heat in the bed. Water freely with water from which the 
chill has been removed. 

This old style of hot-bed is contrived to freely employ the heat 
of the fermenting manure and to push plants during zero tempera- 
tures in the outer air. Of course, where winter temperatures but 
rarely fall to the freezing point, and where the winter day heat often 
runs at shirt sleeves and sun-bonnet degrees, such a hot-bed is as 
excessive in the garden as a feather-bed is in the house. For these 
reasons, the horse manure is made less active by considerable ad- 
mixture of chaff or dried leaves or other mollients. This mixture 
is placed on the surface of the ground in a place protected from cold 
winds, and is properly mixed and packed down into a compact, flat 
pile, somewhat larger than the frame, which is placed upon the top 
of it and the same material is drawn up around the outside of the 
ends and sides of the frame. Inside the frame the soil is placed 
just as described for the hot-bed with a pit. This raised, instead 
of depressed, hot-bed is easier to make and it has other advantages 
for this climate. It is not likely to have its pit flooded and the heat 
choked off by rain water just at the time when its action is desired. 
It is also easier to prevent excessive heat because it allows better 
opportunities for radiation. But even with this the plants have to 
be very carefully watched and air freely given or they will become 
leggy and weak from too great forcing-heat. These local conditions 
have also given rise to other modifications of hot-bed arrangements 
which are excellent for this climate. One is shown in an adjacent 



HOT-BEDS AND HOT-BOXES 



113 



engraving. By making the ends of the hot-bed with two pieces, the 
upper hinged to the lower, it is possible to open the ends easily 
either to avoid end-shade on the plants or to admit air and lower 
the temperature as may be desirable. 




End-Opening for Hot Bed or Cold Frame. 



A Horticultural Hot-box. — The late Ira W. Adams, of Potter 
valley, who has already been mentioned as a grower of great in- 
genuity and insight, devised a sort of automatic arrangement which 
changes from a hot-bed to a cold frame about the time the plants 
are ready to go from forcing to hardening off. He gives this de- 
scription of it : 

I take a dry goods box, three or four feet long, two feet wide and two 
feet or more in depth. This is about as small as it should be ; a much larger 
one can be used, if necessary. Into this I put fresh horse manure, and straw 
that has been used for bedding, and tramp it down occasionally as solid as 
possible, until it is within four inches from the top. Over this I scatter a little 
clean straw. I then use small boxes, three inches deep, and fill them nearly 
full with nicely prepared soil, and, after sowing my seed place each box on 
the warm bed and cover each one with a pane of glass, in order to retain 
moisture. It is necessary to remove the glass occasionally, for the purpose of 
admitting fresh air. The main bed will soon commence to heat, as well as 
the earth in the box. Great care must now be taken for a few days, otherwise 
the contents of the boxes might become too warm, which would cause the 
young plants to grow tall and spindling, thereby rendering them almost 
worthless. This can be easily obviated by lifting the boxes and placing them 
under an inch board, or a few bricks. On a cold night vary the boards or 
bricks as occasion may require. In a few days the plants will be up nicely, the 
heat of the bed will gradually grow less, and the plants will naturally favor 
themselves to the change. The arrangement will then become a "cold frame," 
and the plants will grow strong and stocky, providing care is taken to cover 
them during severe storms, as well as in cold days and nights. If the plants, 
while still small, commence to crowd each other too much, transplant them to 
an open, sheltered, raised bed where they can be cared for until ready to set 
out in permanent beds or rows. 

A Warm Heap. — Another of Mr. Adams' arrangements to 
give his seed boxes just as little heat as suits the purpose consists 
in simply throwing up a heap of fresh horse manure, etc., under an 
old shed, and placing the seed-boxes on top of the heap. Great 
care must be taken for some days at least, as it becomes necessary 



114 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

to raise the boxes sometimes by placing them on a piece of board 
or bricks or to press them down a Httle into the heap, owing alto- 
gether to the amount of heat generated. A little too much is worse 
than not quite enough. After the plants get a few inches high they 
can be transplanted into open beds somewhat sheltered from the 
north winds, where they can remain until conditions favor their 
planting out. 

Watering. — In growing plants with heat, moisture conditions 
must be especially regarded. Too great moisture and "damping 
off" of seedlings is largely prevented in common vegetable seedlings 
by adequate ventilation which has already been emphasized in con- 
nection with prevention of excessive heat. Too little moisture is 
almost as dangerous as too much. There should be, then, ample 
watering with a fine spray or sprinkle of water from which the chill 
has been removed. Most of the time, water standing in the sun 
for a day will be of satisfactory warmth, but if not, a httle boiling 
water from the kitchen will temper quite a volume of cold water 
for use in the beds and frames. 

Damping Off. — Damping ofif of seedlings is due to a fungus 
which attacks the tender growth when there is too much surface 
moisture. It may be produced by rather a small amount of water, 
provided the soil is heavy and the water is not rapidly absorbed 
and distributed. On the other hand, a lighter soil taking water 
more easily may grow plants without damping ofif, even though a 
great deal more water has been used than on the heavier soil. Too 
much shade which prevents the sun from drying the surface soil 
is also likely to produce damping ofif, therefore one has to provide 
for just the right amount of shade and the right amount of venti- 
lation through circulation of the air, etc. The use of sand on the 
surface of a heavier soil may save plants from damping ofT, be- 
cause the sand passes the water quickly and dries, while a heavier 
surface soil w^ould remain soggy. Surface drying may also be pro- 
moted by sprinkling in the morning rather than in the afternoon 
or evening. Lime may be of advantage if not used in too great 
quantities because it disintegrates the surface of the soil and helps 
to produce a dryness which is desirable. Success in keeping the 
surface dry enough and yet providing the seedlings with moisture 
for a free and satisfactory growth is a matter which must be de- 
termined by experience and good judgment and cannot be com- 
pletely covered by any formula or prescription. Damping off may 
be reduced or prevented by sterilization of the soil before planting 
by using a pan-like cover of the surface and admitting live steam 
under the cover and raising the surface to a high heat — but this is 
a process too elaborate for small growers to undertake. 

Covering for Beds and Frames. — California growers largely 
substitute cloth for glass in covering hot-beds or cold frames, be- 
cause it gives all the protection needed, is also rather more of a 
safeguard against overheating and it furnishes shade from too in- 



WATERPROOFING CLOTH 115 

tense sun heat which is liable to come on any winter day and do 
harm. This is an especially valuable feature in amateur growing 
where one's attention is apt to be distracted by other affairs. Be- 
sides, the cloth is of nominal cost. In the drier parts of the state 
the cloth is used without preparation. Where rains are more fre- 
quent water-proofing is desirable. Take white cloth of a close 
texture, stretch it, and nail it on frames of any size you wish, 
putting in cross-bars to sustain the cloth if the frame is large. 
Mix two ounces of hme water, four ounces of linseed oil, one ounce 
of white of eggs separately, two ounces of yolk of eggs ; mix the 
lime and oil with a very gentle heat; heat the eggs separately and 
mix with the former. Spread the mixture with a paint-brush on 
the cloth, allowing each coat to dry before applying another, until 
they become waterproof. 

To make waterproof cloth with less labor if considerable quan- 
tity is wanted : Soften four and one-half ounces of glue in eight 
and three-quarter pints of water, cold at first; then dissolve in, say 
a wash-boiler full (six gallons) of warm water, with two and one- 
half ounces of hard soap; put in the cloth and boil for an hour, 
wring and dry ; then prepare a bath of a pound of alum and a pound 
of salt to about five gallons of water, soak the prepared cloth in it 
for a couple of hours, rinse with clear water and dry. One gallon 
of the glue salution will soak about ten yards of cloth. This cloth 
has been used in southern California for several years without 
mildewing and it will hold water by the pailful. 

Handling of Seedlings. — As has been hinted already, seedlings 
grown by artificial heat or protection should be brought along by 
such adjustment of heat, moisture and fresh air that they are of 
good healthy color and sturdy growth. It is common practice to 
transplant the seedlings when quite small to other boxes of rather 
rich soil, in which they are more widely spaced, and to continue the 
growth with the heat for a time and then move the box to a cold 
frame, giving them progressively more air and less protection until 
they acquire a hardiness for the open air. In the farm garden these 
every-day coddling arts of the plantsman are apt to be neglected 
and it will answer very well to thin out the plants enough in the 
original seed-boxes and to harden them by gradually increasing the 
exposure in the declining heat of the hot-bed, and then under slight 
shelter in the open air, until the time comes for their removal to 
open ground. If, however, there is likely to be some time before 
planting out, the transplanting from the seed-box to a protected 
bed in the open air will allow the postponement of transplanting 
to garden or field until a considerably later date. It is a mistake to 
hold too long in the hot-bed or frame with the idea of gaining time 
by having large plants to transplant. Good, sturdy plants, well used 
to fresh air and the lower temperatures, will make the best records 
in the open. 



116 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Growing Plants in Separate Containers. — Planting out small 
seedlings in separate receptacles like berry baskets, paper flower 
pots, etc., will secure strong development of single plants, if these 
containers can be handled in a way to prevent too free circulation 
of air around them and too great drying out. If this is not done, 
the plants in the seed-beds or seed-boxes will show greater thrift. 
To secure better moisture and at the same time great facility in 
planting out, this method is commended. 

Take common printer's cardboard and have it cut into strips 4x22 inches. 
By folding these tightly around a block of wood 3 by 3 inches wide and 4 
inches high, slipping off and putting in a pin, we have a square pot with no 
bottom. These are pressed flat and packed a thousand in a bunch for conven- 
ience, until wanted. When ready to use, open, give a quick pinch on the cor- 
ners not folded, and the box will stand almost perfectly square. These fit 
nicely together and can be opened, shaped and set rapidly. Place several rows 
at a time, drop a little well-rotted manure in each one, press down, then fill in 
the soil with a shovel, set a plant in each box, then fill in more soil until the 
boxes cannot be seen. This prevents the air from getting in and drying too 
rapidly. When ready for the field slip a trowel under and place them on a 
sled to haul out to the field. The manure serves every purpose of a paper 
bottom in preventing soil and plant from dropping out, and it does not inter- 
fere with the moisture either going down or coming up. It is not so neces- 
sary to remove these boxes when planting out, and if we do wish to take them 
off they are much more easily removed than those with bottoms. 

Planting Seedlings. — The points to observe for planting out 
seedlings in the open air are almost exactly the same as those al- 
ready given in this chapter for the arrangement of proper moisture 
conditions for seed germination. Depth of planting depends upon 
the same conditions ; firming of the soil about the rootlets is for the 
same reasons ; a loose surface above and frequent cultivation after- 
ward are essential because of considerations already described. The 
judicious use of water at transplanting, by pouring it in the hole or 
running it along in the drill or furrow, is a very important point in 
late work or in planting out when the season is rather dry, but the 
use of water must always be followed, when the soil has dried some- 
what, by stirring of the surface or other means of preventing evap- 
oration or else the plants will dwindle and on investigation the dead 
stem will be found to resemble a match stuck in on unburned brick, 
if the soil is at all heavy in its nature. 

Seedlings to be planted in the field for horse cultivation are 
distanced by the use of a marker, as described in the chapter on 
laying off. In small garden beds for hand work, the plants can be 
very accurately distanced both ways by using a "planting board." 
It is made of a width equal to the desired distance between the 
rows and of a length equal to the width of the bed, and is carefully 
cut, by the use of a carpenter's square, so that the ends are exactly 
at right angles to the sides. By stretching a line along the length 
of the bed, and making one end of the board true with that line, the 
sides of the board will mark two parallel lines across the bed and 
notches cut at desired distances in the sides of the board will show 



PLANTING OUT IN HILLS 117 

where the plants are to be set. If the board is carefully used the 
bed may be quickly set with plants which will stand in straight lines 
both ways. Standing on the board while planting prevents impact- 
ing the ground surface and disfiguring it with footprints. 

Plants Ready Grozvn in Hills for Transplanting. — All seed- 
lings which it is desirable to grow in groups or hills are very neatly 
and safely handled by the use of inverted sods in connection with 
the hot-box already described. This can be done with sods of 
native growth six inches square and four inches deep or alfalfa 
can be grown in seed boxes on which sods will form sufficiently in 
six weeks from sowing the seed. Make a temporary floor of old 
boards on top of the packed manure of the hot-box. The inverted 
sods are then packed closely on this floor with the grass gathered 
in nicely under each sod. Exactly in the middle of each inverted 
sod thrust a small stick, and after scarifying each sod thoroughly 
an inch or two in depth with an old caseknife, carefully put over 
the whole bed two inches of rich compost, made of fine creek sand, 
and decayed sods, a year or two old, mixed with fine sweepings 
from the cow-yard gathered in summer and protected from winter 
rains. Tamp this prepared soil pretty firmly with the back of a 
hoe, and plant the seeds an inch or so in depth around each stick 
which serves to indicate the middle of each sod. Plant six to eight 
seeds in a hill, leaving finally three of the strongest plants. A box 
three by two feet will hold twenty-four sods, which may be planted 
for two hills of cucumbers, six of muskmelons, six of watermelons, 
and ten hills of pole beans, or eight hills of beans and two hills of 
summer squashes, and these will furnish a family of five all it can 
use if the plants are well taken care of. The box for early plants 
should be placed on the south side of a shed or barn in order to pro- 
tect it from strong north winds, heavy cold rains, as well as danger 
of frosts, and should be watered as needed with lukewarm water 
Transplant the sods when safe by running a wide shingle or spade 
on the floor under each sod. In planting out the sods must be well 
bedded in moist soil which is closely firmed around them and the 
surface kept loose. 

Open Air Seed-Beds. — But though the amateur should know 
all these ways of growing seedHngs for transplanting by such de- 
vices as have been described, he should be assured that very much 
can be done by growing seedlings in the open air and open ground 
without artificial heat or protection. Seed beds are made for 
this purpose exactly as they are for growing vegetables without 
transplanting, as described in Chapter V — using the "raised bed" 
or the "depressed bed," etc., according to the expectation of more 
or less moisture following the seed sowing, and all the suggestions 
for open air seed starting given earlier in this chapter are also ap- 
plicable. Of course, also, many plants removed in thinning the stand- 
ing rows can be used in transplanting for additional areas of the 



118 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

same kinds. The amateur should quickly make himself competent 
in the art of transplanting. 

Cuttings and Layers. — Many herbaceous stems of garden vege- 
tables root readily from cuttings. Higher heat and greater moisture 
are as a rule requisite for such cuttings than for hardwood cuttings 
of fruiting and flowering plants, but some, like the potato, sweet 
potato, globe artichocke, etc., root quickly in open ground taken 
from sprouts taken from the parent stock, and others, like the 
tomato, grow from cuttings of aerial stems. In the open ground 
the soil must be warm and moist and the air moist also. These 
conditions usually occur in California at the beginning or especially 
toward the end of the rainy season, or they can be produced in 
a hot-bed at any time. The cuttings should not wilt, and shade is 
of advantage when practicable, for cuttings made from aerial stems, 
as they are more prone to collapse than sprouts from the tuber or 
root crown. 

Layering is often a handy way to multiply many vegetables 
with branching stems. Cover the stems with moist earth and they 
usually root readily. In some cases a short slit with a knife length- 
wise of buried stem aids in rooting. 

A Consideration of Cans. — It would not do to ignore the can 
method of vegetable growing and deny this refuse tinware its place 
in amateur gardening, for really some very creditable things are 
done in cans. If one prepares the right kind of soil, with such 
texture that it will form neither a leach nor a brick, and then strives 
for correct temperature and moisture conditions and makes drain- 
age holes enough, a plant will grow in a tin can as well as in some 
more distinguished receptacle. Many housewives grow very cred- 
itable tender plants for planting out by using old cans and a sunny 
window shelf. Some devoted city gardeners make surprising suc- 
cesses on the old can foundation. In San Jose a few years ago 
there was a back yard twelve by twenty-five feet surrounded by 
high whitewashed fences and sheds which cast a blinding glare in 
the eye of the visitor. Gardening enthusiasm and tin cans trans- 
formed the scene. Tomato vines ran above the eaves of the shed, 
being trained to the wall like grapevines. Between the tomato plants 
were squash vines from which the laterals and leaves were cut as 
they grew toward the roof, so that they were little more than a 
bare stem below the eaves, but had a most luxurious growth at 
the eaves and on the roof of the shed and back porch and along top 
of fences. Large squashes ripened on the roof and shelves at the 
eaves and fence tops. Lima beans ran in various directions. String 
beans, peppers, and mint grew below the running vines. Tomato 
plants over six feet in height were severely pruned near the ground 
to a bare stalk, giving free circulation to cats, breezes, and a little 
direct but more reflected sunshine. Cans of all sizes were used ; old 
rusty five-gallon cans with the bottoms punched full of holes ; small 
cans, one set over another and filled half full of fresh bones, and 



GROWING PLANTS IN CANS 119 

over these several inches of fresh wood ashes. Water poured into 
the cans, leached through the ashes, combining a complete fertilizer 
and system of sub-irrigation. The cans were often artfully con- 
cealed from sight, but they were there as the foundation of an 
enterprise. By their use and the employment of vertical space for 
the plant extension, this little mite of a city back yard was made 
into a pretty greenery without interfering with its function as a 
clothes-drying yard on Mondays. When one sees such things he 
is led to wonder whether there is anything which Will and Work 
and Water cannot accomplish. 



CHAPTER XII. 
ARTICHOKES. 

The Globe or Bur Artichoke. — Cynara Scolymus. 
French, artichant; German, artischoke; Dutch, artisjok; Danish, artiskok; 
Italian, articiocca, carciofo ; Spanish, alcachofa ; Portuguese, alcachofra. 
Edible part, portions of young flower buds. 

The Cardoon. — Cynara cardunculus. 
French, cardon ; German, kardon ; Flemish, kardoen ; Italian, Spanish and 
Portuguese, cardo. 

The Jerusalem Artichoke. — Hclianthus tuberosus. 

French, topinambour ; German, erdapfel ; Flemish, aardpeer ; Danish, 
jordskokken; Italian, girasole del Canada; Spanish, namara; Portuguese 
topinambor. 

Edible part, the tuber. 

San Francisco has the reputation of being the city of the 
United States best supplied with the dehcious young flower buds 
of the globe artichoke. Although this is true, it is also a fact that 
the plant is not used to even a small fraction of its possibility in 
California. It is perfectly hardy in our valley climates, in fact it 
is induced to make its chief growth in the winter and yields its crop 
from November onward, thus completely reversing its eastern and 
north European record, where it starts growth in the spring from 
roots which have been covered out of reach of freezing all winter. 
The plant is, therefore, of especial value in California for use in 
late winter and early spring when garden supplies are scantiest. 
It is a garden ornament also with its height of four feet or more, 
its large pinnatifid leaves, light green above and whitish below, and 
its flowers in the style of a colossal thistle head. 

Although grown in home and market gardens in most of our 
valley and foothill regions the globe artichoke as a shipping vege- 
table has received considerable attention during recent years, and 
the chief producing region is on the coast side of San Mateo county, 
just south of San Francisco.* Shipments to eastern cities begin in 
December or January, and continue until June. Such shipments 
reached about 300 carloads in 1913, and averages annually about that 
amount. The buds are packed in standard size apple boxes and are 
made to lie on their sides in the boxes. Such a box holds about six 
dozen large buds or about fifteen dozen small ones, and about five 
hundred boxes fill a car, for which the growers expect to get about 
$600. It is fair to expect an increasing demand because the vege- 
table is only beginning to be understood and appreciated by Ameri- 
cans. When they learn its delicacy a continuous supply of fresh 

*A detailed account of this industry by Paul Parker is given in the Pacific Rural Press 
of February 13, 1915. 

[120] 



GROWING GLOBE ARTICHOKES 121 

artichokes from California during the winter season can be profit- 
ably sold. The canning of artichokes is also being largely un- 
dertaken. 

Soil. — The globe artichoke will thrive on any well-prepared 
garden soil and does not refuse a pretty heavy adobe if well culti- 
vated to retain moisture. The chief commercial crop is made on 
the sandy loams of the ocean slopes, where fogs moisten the air 
of the dry season and the ocean moderates the temperature in 
winter, which is the cropping season. But on such soils water and 
fertilizers must be freely used. The plant delights in manuring and 
is benefited by it both in the tenderness of its buds and the multi- 
plication of bearing stems. Either a complete commercial fertilizer 
or barnyard manure may be quite freely used — the latter even at 
the rate of ten or twelve tons to the acre, applied early in the 
rainy season. 

Propagation. — The plant grows readily from seed which may 
be planted either in boxes or the open ground in September, if irri- 
gation is available ; if not, sow as soon as the ground is deeply 
moistened by rain. The seedlings may be transplanted, when six 
or eight inches high, to permanent place whenever the ground is 
suitable the same season. Transplanted seedlings usually bear 
within a year. Care should be taken not to cover the crown deeply 
in transplanting. 

But there is much variation in plants grown from seed and 
those grown from parts of old plants of good type are almost ex- 
clusively used in commercial practice. The plant grows readily 
from dividing the stool or from suckers detached from the root 
crown. The latter furnish an excellent means of multiplication and 
should be secured by first uncovering the stool as soon as there is 
a good growth of new shoots with well-developed leaves. Remove 
the shoots carefully with a knife or sharp gouge so as to take a 
small part of the parent root at the base of the shoot. Many plants 
can thus be taken from a single root-crown and a few of the best 
shoots left for growth. Shorten the leaves somewhat to reduce 
evaporation until new roots are formed. These sprouts, which 
should be taken off during the rainy season, can be planted at once 
in permanent place if the ground is warm and moist and will bear 
late in the same year, if their growth is promoted by frequent 
watering. But plants do not reach maximum production of three 
or four dozen buds to the stool until the third year. Although the 
plants can be kept for nine or ten years in service, better product 
can be had by renewing at the end of the fifth year, using the suck- 
ers from the old plants for a new start. 

Distance. — So free is the growth in this state, it is desirable 
to give a good distance. In the garden four feet apart in rows 
which are five or six feet apart is often practiced. But as the plant 
is high and rather dense, it is better to place the rows in the back- 
ground of the small garden and its use as an ornamental hedge or 



122 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

screen is suggested, providing the ground is kept rich and well 
cultivated. A row of the plants along an irrigating ditch is usually- 
very desirable, both for use and beauty. 

In commercial planting on the seashore slopes and flats it has 
been desirable to give the plants very wide distances. Speaking of 
the practice in San Mateo county, Mr. Parker says : 

About 900 plants are figured to the acre. On level ground they are set 
six feet apart with ten feet spaces between rows. This gives ample space for 
wagons, cultivators, and small irrigation ditches. On many of the farms they 
raise peas, corn, beans, and tomatoes between the rows. Where ground is 
high and the irrigation ditches have to be deep, the artichokes are planted on 
each side of the ditch so that there is sometimes fully thirty feet space between 
the canals. 

Gathering. — The flower buds should be removed as soon as 
they are well formed and before the scales open. In this condition 
they are more tender and a larger portion of the scale is edible. 
As the bud stands at the apex of the shoot, the shoot should be cut 
to the ground. If this is done the plant is induced to send up more 
shoots. As soon as the flowers are allowed to open, the growth of 
shoots from below is checked or stopped. Hence prompt cutting 
as soon as in condition insures a larger bearing season, but as other 
vegetables come into condition, the plants should be allowed to 
make free top growth for the reinforcement of the roots for the 
next season. 

Of the way a commercial plantation can be made to deliver its 
product in the winter when demand is best, Mr. Parker says : 

The plants are cut down to the ground during June and July. The new 
shoots will not bear until September or October, the top buds first ; and cut- 
ting these off causes new buds continually to be sent out. This continues dur- 
ing the winter, reaching the maximum yield in January. In the following 
May no more buds are cut off, but are allowed to bloom. The later the cutting 
down of the plant, the larger the buds will be the next winter. When the 
plants are cut back too early in June, the buds will appear very early but they 
are always small. 

Variety. — The variety chiefly grown in California is the Large 
Green Paris, a vigorous grower yielding buds of large size with 
scales very fleshy at the base and set in a broad receptacle also 
fleshy. This variety grown for succession seems to leave little op- 
portunity for the use of other varieties. 

It is very necessary that discrimination should be made against 
poor plants which have loose bud-formation and a spiny growth. 
They should be extirpated. 

THE CARDOON. 

The cardoon is closely related to the globe artichoke, and re- 
sembles it in growth except that it attains larger size. Its edible 
part is, however, the stem and midrib of the leaf, and not the flower 
bud as in the artichoke. It is propagated from seed and not from 



THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE 123 

sprouts, and to produce satisfactory quality, the seedling must be 
pushed to quick growth by ample manure and moisture. The car- 
doon is hardy in the coast region, and can be grown for autumn or 
spring use, or for succession at nearly all times. The plant is 
ready for use in about six months from sowing. It is apt to be- 
come a bad weed in pasture, field or roadsides. 

THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 

This plant which will be readily recognized as a tuberous- 
rooted sunflower, is exceedingly prolific in California. It is not 
largely used for human food, though it is usually to be found in 
the San Francisco market. It somewhat resembles a potato in 
flavor, and yet has its own distinctive character, and is cooked in 
several ways. It may be baked, or pared or cooked like salsify, or 
boiled for use in soups and salads. It does not resemble the potato 
in keeping quaHty, for it is apt to decay quickly after digging. It 
must, therefore, be freshly dug from the ground and not stored. 

Soil, Culture and Yield. — The Jerusalem artichoke is not very 
particular about soil. It reaches better form in rather a light soil, 
as does a potato, and it yields enormously on a rich loam, but it 
will probably yield a greater weight on a poor, dry soil than any 
other crop known. S. J. Murdock, of Orange county, gives this 
account of the plant: 

The preparation of the ground and the subsequent cultivation is the same 
as for potatoes ; the rows should not be less than four feet apart, and three 
feet between plants. Plant small tubers or the larger ones cut to two eyes, 
and about four inches deep. Keep the ground stirred to prevent weeds, till 
the plants shade the patch, and then they will take care of themselves. They 
should yield from seven to fifteen tons per acre, or even more, with a good 
stand, good soil, and care. Last year was a dry one, and a neighbor of mine 
planted one acre to artichokes, but got but little over half a stand on account 
of parts of his land being too dry. Yet with his partial stand he raised ten 
tons of tubers. 

But Mr. Murdock and his neighbors operate on a peat soil of 
great looseness and richness, which favors the maximum size and 
multiplication of the tubers. His results are, therefore, not attain- 
able everywhere, but still the growth and productiveness of the 
plant is marvelous in this climate. 

Gathering. — In the garden the artichoke bed can be regarded 
as a permanent investment. Digging can begin in the autumn at 
one end of the bed and proceed regularly through it as the tubers 
are wanted until growth starts in the spring. Selecting the large 
tubers for use and leaving the small ones in the soil will harvest 
and replant the crop at one operation. Before the rains are over, 
the bed should have a top dressing of manure and then it is ready 
for another season, with no further care except pulling weeds which 
start early. 

The Jerusalem artichoke has been commended for years as a 
food for hogs — the animals to do their own harvesting. Some grow- 



124 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

ers are very enthusiastic over it, but why it has not been more 
w^idely employed has never been fully explained. Some growers 
commend them highly as cow-feed, and when boiled, fowls eat them 
readily, but the cost of digging for such purposes is a serious 
drawback. 

Varieties. — Two varieties have been widely distributed in Cali- 
fornia : the White French and the Red Brazilian. The white kind 
is preferred for table use and the red is chosen for field growth for 
stock, as it is rather more vigorous and prolific. The red variety 
is, however, frequently found in our vegetable markets and is ac- 
ceptable for table use. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
ASPARAGUS. 

Asparagus — Asparagus Officinalis. 

French, asperge ; German, spargel ; Flemish and Dutch, aspersie ; Danish 
asparges ; ItaHan, sparagio ; Spanish, esparrago ; Portuguese, espargo. 

Asparagus is a leading winter vegetable in California and is 
produced as a field crop for local sale, for canning, and for eastern 
shipment. It is not grown, however, as a garden crop for home 
use as widely as it should be. This is probably due in part to the 
fact that in nearly all towns it can be cheaply bought during the 
winter and spring; in part, also, to an exaggerated notion of the 
difficulty of making and caring for an asparagus bed. In almost all 
parts of the state it is not difficult for the attentive gardener to 
secure crop and quality which will amply repay his efforts, but one 
has to know the nature and needs of the plant and meet them. 

Regions open to coast influences either directly or through gaps 
in the Coast Range, or regions where atmospheric humidity is in- 
creased somewhat by evaporation from moist soils or wide water 
surface, as in the case in interior river bottoms, have superior con- 
ditions for the growth of the plant which is maritime in its origin 
and nature. On the peat lands near the ocean in Orange county 
asparagus established itself as an escape from cultivation and it is 
stated that this demonstration of its choice of situation suggested 
the plantings for distant shipment which some years ago were of 
considerable commercial importance, but recently the crop has been 
carried to much greater attainment in other parts of the state. 

Soil. — Asparagus is chiefly grown commercially on peat lands 
in the deltas of rivers and on soft, deep loams elsewhere with large 
use of animal manures. These peat lands are composed of vege- 
table debris intermixed with sand, and are very loose and penetrable 
in their texture. They are also underlaid by impervious strata at 
considerable depth, which holds water within reach of the plant 
roots. Such conditions are found in the reclaimed lands of the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin deltas, where the largest growing areas 
and canning factories are located. But it is not essential that just 
these conditions prevail. In the Santa Clara valley and elsewhere 
in central California deep alluvial soils without any great amount 
of vegetable debris, for many years furnished large quantities to 
the markets. More recently a commercial product for very early 
shipment has been developed in the Imperial valley adjacent to the 
Colorado river in the extreme southeast corner of the state. 

[125] 



126 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Any deep, rich sandy loam, moist enough to give a winter and 
spring crop and a summer growth of foHage to reinforce the roots 
and endure the California valley frosts, of which the plant is very 
tolerant, will grow good crops of asparagus for years with proper 
cultivation, generous manuring, and occasional salting. Soils which 
are too wet or too dry or too heavy to allow free growth, yield 
inferior shoots, tough, stringy, or bitter as the case may be. Of 
course a heavy soil may be improved for a garden bed of asparagus 
by free use of sand and manure well worked through it but com- 
mercial plantings should only be made on naturally fit soils. 

The Annual Product. — The asparagus product is upwards of 
1500 carloads a year of which San Joaquin and Contra Costa coun- 
ties produce 900 ; Sacramento county 300 ; San Francisco bay region 
200, and Imperial valley 100. Asparagus is the second in import- 
ance of California canned vegetables — second only to tomatoes, 
as shown in Chapter I. About one-third of the product is canned, 
one-third locally consumed as a fresh vegetable, and one-third 
shipped fresh to eastern points.* 

Growing the Plants. — Asparagus grows readily from seed and 
in this state well-grown yearling roots are used for planting out in 
preference to older ones. The house gardener can, therefore, save 
a year's time by buying roots from the seedsmen, but for the large 
plantation the grower will usually grow his own plants. This can 
be done in the open air; adequate moisture and a light, fine soil 
will insure success the first year if the seed is grown early enough 
to get the benefit of a full season's growth. A light, coarse soil 
which may be excellent for the after growth of the roots, is not so 
good for, starting the seedlings because of danger of surface drying. 
A mixture of fine sediment will improve a coarse soil for this pur- 
pose. A very good way to get quick germination and large root 
growth is to start the seed bed in February or March, as the soil 
becomes warm : get good, fresh seed ; take boxes, say apple boxes, 
or any boxes of about that size ; get good, clean sand, and mix sand 
and seed together, about fifteen parts of sand to one part of seed; 
fill the boxes with sand and seed mixed as described ; set away in 
a warm place and pour on water, quite warm, two or three times 
during the first two days. 

In the meantime, prepare and richly pulverize a piece of ground 
for a seed-bed. Make rows about four feet apart by raking all 
lumps and clods away, forming a kind of ditch say two or three 
inches below the level of the land. Make your ditches about one 
foot wide, and watch the seed closely, for if the seed is good in 
about seven days nearly all the seeds will begin to sprout. Then 
take the boxes of sand and seed to the prepared ground and sprinkle 
it in the rows or ditches quite freely, using judgment all the time 
not to get too much or too little. Cover up with finely pulverized 

*The fullest account of the commercial aspects of California asparagus growing is given 
in Bulletin 1 of the State Market Commission, San Francisco, 1916. 



GARDEN BEDS OF ASPARAGUS 127 

earth about one and one-half inches deep, and if the ground is 
moist your plants will be up and growing in a very few days, at 
least before the weeds will make their appearance. Let the plants 
stand there; but take good care of them. They are very quickly 
injured by drying out. The bed should be kept clean and moist. 

This method gives seedlings scattered through a space one foot 
wide and though the cultivator may be used between these foot- 
strips, there must be hand-pulling of weeds within the strips. For 
this reason some growers prefer to start the plants in thin rows by 
sowing the seed in a drill and afterwards spacing the plants in the 
row to prevent crowding on the roots. In this practice the rows 
are placed one to two feet apart according as hand or horse cultiva- 
tion is to be practiced. Whichever method is followed it is import- 
ant to start the seeds in a slight depression so that subsequent culti- 
vation may level the ground and bring a deeper covering over the 
young root crowns to guard them from excessive heat. The seed 
can, however, in a light soil, be placed at a depth of two inches and 
the moisture can be retained near the surface by careful raking to 
prevent crusting over. A rake with thin teeth can be used even 
after the seedlings have appeared, to keep the soil loose about them. 

Planting Out the Garden Bed. — Garden beds or rows can be 
made by the old system of trenching if it is desired, although recent 
practice rather discards it. Trench about eighteen or twenty inches 
deep, then fill up with well-rotted manure, dig the next trench and 
throw the dirt over on top of the trench filled with manure, and 
so on until all is trenched. Then begin and stir the last trench up 
with the dirt, measure off the distance the asparagus plants are to 
stand, say two feet if for hand hoeing, and then stick a stake, set 
the plants, and then take the dirt off of the next trench to cover the 
plants, and so on until over the ground, when all the plants will be 
set. 

If the garden is small, the soil rich, the moisture ample, some 
other use can be made of the bed the first year. The stakes will 
show the locations of the asparagus roots. Between these stakes 
set a cabbage plant and then in the middle of the row set out 
lettuce plants, and sow radishes, carrots, and early turnips. The 
carrots and radishes will be disposed of before the cabbages are 
ready and some other quick-growing vegetable can be put in, after 
irrigation. The second year give the whole ground to the asparagus, 
and in the fall clean off the bed, cover with a coat of coarse manure 
to keep the ground from packing with the heavy rains, and fork it 
all in early in the following spring, being careful not to injure the 
root crowns. A small cutting can be made the second season, but 
it will help future crops to cut very little. 

Field Planting of Asparagus. — Roots can be moved from the 
seed-bed to the field at any time from November to April, accord- 
ing to condition of soil and activity of roots. As with other plant- 
ings, however, early practice is better when all is favorable. As to 



128 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

methods of planting in the field the experience of two prominent 
large-scale growers is given. First, the method of Mr. William 
Boots, one of the old line asparagus growers on the alluvial lands 
of the Santa Clara valley: 

Next March (for I think March the best month to plant in, all else being 
equal) choose a good piece of land, the very best is none too good, and plow 
just as deep as you can. I plow with four good horses on a single plow, and 
plow one foot deep, getting the land in as good condition as possible. Take 
a good team and draw furrows where the rows are wanted, going twice in 
the same place, just as deep as we can get the plow to run, throwing the 
furrow each way, making the distance six feet between rows. Then carefully 
take up the plants, carefully separate them, for if they have been very closely 
grown they will cling together ; spread out the roots as you plant them, clear- 
ing away all clods or anything that may hinder the growth. Plant not closer 
than three feet between plants in the rows. For field planting for the market 
by all means do not plant closer than six feet between the rows, and three 
feet apart in the rows ; for if there is a plant that delights in plenty of room 
and air it certainly is asparagus. Cover the plants about two inches deep, and 
during the summer cultivation the pulverized earth will drop into the ditches, 
and by the time the season's cultivation is over the ditches or furrows will be 
nearly full, which finishes the first year in the field. 

Another method is that approved by S. J. Murdock, on the peat 
lands of Orange county : 

The rows should be four feet apart and the plants eighteen inches from 
each other in the rows, and even more room would be better if the land is 
not too valuable. After the ground is well plowed and finely harrowed, mark 
out the rows the desired distance apart with a plow by going twice in each 
row, throwing a furrow each way from the center of the row, and from eight 
to twelve inches deep ; then go one or more rounds in this with a cultivator, 
closed up, so as to loosen up the soil well in the bottom of the row. If you 
have any fine fertilizer put it in the row where you want to set your plants ; 
mix well with the soil and set your plants over it. Place the plants in the 
bottom of the prepared furrow, spread out the roots and cover crown and all 
about two or three inches — the lighter the soil the deeper the plants should 
be placed — so as to secure the proper moisture till they begin to strike root. 
After the planting has been done, take a light steel garden rake, or, if the 
rows are even enough, we would prefer the wheel hoe with the rakes on, and 
stir the soil the whole length of the rows. Then, when the shoots begin to 
grow and show themselves three or four inches high, the soil should be gradu- 
ally hoed or cultivated to the plants till the surface is level. The ground 
should be kept moist, and in most localities irrigation will be found necessary 
to secure the best results. Do not neglect thorough cultivation, but after the 
roots begin to fill the ground do not work too deep, as there is danger of 
injuring them. 

Giving the plant plenty of room favors its productive longevity, 
while closer planting may secure larger acre-yield at first. In the 
large commercial plantations on reclaimed lands of the Sacramento 
and San Joaquin river bottoms the plants are usually given much 
greater distances — say nine or ten feet between the rows and the 
plants two feet apart in the row. Much greater depth of covering 
is secured by ridging the light, peaty soil, so that the shoots have 
to pierce about a foot of covering on their way to the light. This 



TREATMENT OF ASPARAGUS FIELD 129 

secures the great length of large white shoots which are character- 
istic of California canned asparagus. The ridges are made by the 
use of plows, disks and crowders which cut deeply between the 
rows and shift the soil over the root crowns. These ridges are 
split with a plow or disk when the cutting season is over, and the 
land leveled for the summer growth. This is simply an enlarge- 
ment of old practices, as described below, as the light soil, largely 
made of partly decomposed vegetation, favors cheap shifting of 
great bulks of it to serve different needs of plants. 

Later Treatment of the Asparagus Field. — There are several 
points to gain in subsequent cultivation of the asparagus field. One 
is early starting of the plants, and for that purpose some growers 
plow first away from the rows to open the ground better to the 
winter sunshine ; another is to induce the growth of long, tender, 
white shoots, and to retain moisture for prolonging the cutting sea- 
son, and to aid summer growth of foliage, and for these ends the 
early spring plowing is to cover the rows with a deep layer of loose 
soil. Mr. Boots' method is as follows : 

Now do not attempt to cut any asparagus until your plants have grown 
two years, but cultivate thoroughly. The second season's growth you will 
find quite strong, and along in the fall, after the frost has killed the tops, 
take a mowing machine or scythe and cut the tops close to the ground, pile up 
and burn on the ground, as your plants are too deep in the ground to be 
affected by the fire. Some time in November or December and not later than 
the first of January, take two horses and plow, and go along the rows close 
to the stubs that you cut off, throwing the furrows from the rows, then follow 
along with sharp hoes and cut the stubs way low down; also break down the 
little ridge that will be left between the furrows. The sun and air will warm 
and start the roots to growing, sometimes as early as the first of January, and 
the first plowing ought to be done before the sprouts begin to make their 
appearance. 

Along in the early spring after the heavy rains are over, and the plants 
have begun to push up nice healthy sprouts, take two horses and plow, and 
reverse the operation by throwing the earth back onto the rows, leaving the 
dead furrow in the center between the rows, covering the plants up deeply, 
leaving the plants under the ridge. Then take a fine, sharp-toothed harrow, 
and drag along the rows the same way the plow went, which will cut up and 
drag out all clods and lumps, and leave the earth in fine condition for the 
sprouts to come up through, for should the ground not be in good order, your 
"grass" will be crippled and crooked. It will also be tough, fibrous and bitter. 

Continue thorough cultivation with plenty of manure, no matter what kind 
or how rough. At the same time finely rotted manure is profitable. There 
is one thing to be borne in mind in the producing of asparagus ; you can't 
fertilize too much. The better cultivated and the more fertihzers the greater 
will be the quantity and the better will be the quality produced. We plow 
thoroughly about three times a year, and harrow as often, and in the cutting 
season keep the weeds out with hoes. 

The method of alternately opening and covering the rows is 
somewhat conditioned upon the local soil and rainfall. The looser 
the soil and the lighter the winter rain, the less need of such opera- 
tion, because in such situations the heat readily penetrates and the 
roots answer quickly without uncovering, which may too greatly 



130 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

facilitate evaporation and thus be dangerous in dry localities, even 
in the rainy season. Where these conditions prevail thorough clean- 
ing, plowing, and manuring will fit the field for the winter. Mr. 
Murdock gives this advice: 

In the fall or early winter, when the tops have turned brown, the ground 
should be cleaned and all rubbish burned, for if delayed the seed will drop 
and get scattered, which will come up and may prove eventually to be the 
worst weed the grower will have to contend with, for if allowed to grow after 
once started it will soon fill the whole ground with a mass of roots, and very 
soon spoil the whole patch. As soon as the ground is cleaned the whole field 
should be well cultivated, and coarse manure spread over the entire surface, 
so that the rains can dissolve and carry down the soluble plant food to the 
roots. As the period of rest here in our mild and warm winters is very short, 
with this strong and persisting plant no delay should be indulged in furnish- 
ing the necessary plant food. 

Quite free use of common salt is desirable for asparagus pro- 
viding the land is not naturally saline as is the case in some regions 
where it is largely grown. Cheap, refuse salt answers well, and in 
garden practice the use of any old brine from the pickle or pork 
barrel. An application of five to ten tons of stable manure or one 
ton of a complete commercial fertilizer per acre can be frequently 
used. One grower in the Imperial valley has used twenty tons of 
cow manure per acre annually for five years. On the best peat 
lands the crop is grown for several years without fertiHzation. 

The surface application of all manures at the beginning of the 
rainy season seems best to suit California conditions. 

Harvesting. — Growers agree in advising very little, if any, cut- 
ting the second year in the field. The third season should be very 
productive if the plants have been generously treated, and thence 
onward independently, if the strength of the soil can be kept up, 
although canners are apt to refuse the product of plantings over 
nine years old as likely to be tough and bitter. Still older fields do 
yield good stuff in some cases. An average product is about two 
tons of marketable shoots to the acre, while three and even four 
tons are occasionally secured. Much evidently depends on the land 
and the care of the plantation. 

Mr. Murdock's suggestions on policies in cutting are as fol- 
lows: 

Cut all the shoots clean at each cutting during the season, whether they 
are large enough to use or not, for if part of stalks are allowed to grow they 
will prevent other buds from throwing up stalks, and make the season's cut- 
ting short. Keep the ground well cleaned during the harvesting period, and 
if you have been liberal with your fertilizers and have kept your ground moist, 
your crop will last as long as a profitable demand is likely to exist. Yet, 
beware of prolonging the harvesting period too late, so as to weaken the next 
year's crop, as the nature of the crop requires that, to reproduce annually its 
crop of shoots, something must be left to grow so as to foster the formation 
of new roots and a new set of buds. If your season commences early you 
should lay by the knife later on to correspond ; then let all the tops grow and 
do not cull out the large shoots afterward. The time that should elapse be- 



CUTTING AND PACKING ASPARAGUS 131 

tween cuttings varies in different soils, some being warmer and consequently- 
quicker than others; then again, much depends on the weather; sorne years 
we will have warm days in February, which will necessitate cutting twice each 
week, and it may be followed by cold days in March, when the cuttings will 
be meager once a week ; and again in the warm days of May it may require 
three cuttings per week to prevent the tips from bursting, which spoils it for 
market. 

Some cut with a long-handled gouge which does less injury to 
roots by side-cutting, others use a long butcher knife. One form 
of cutter is a tube about fifteen inches long, with a handle fitted 
in one end and the other end opened and flattened into cutting 
edge, which is broad, sharp and forked. 

There is variation in the demand for color in the product. The 
local demand runs largely for a green tinge; the canning demand is 
for white, and the eastern shipping demand is largely for green. 
To produce good, tender, white asparagus it is necessary to cover 
more deeply and blanch the shoots by continued growth through a 
thicker layer of loose earth. It is also necessary to cut as soon as 
the tip is seen, which requires daily cutting in the height of the 
season. The knife is plunged into the loose ridge through which 
the shoot is rising so as to sever it about six or eight inches below 
the surface where the tip appears. 

Comparatively little asparagus is bunched in California, except 
for fresh shipment to eastern markets ; the bulk of it being mar- 
keted in large boxes as loose stalks which are both wholesaled and 
retailed by the pound. For distance shipments the boxes are marked 
so that the stems stand on their ends just as they grow, for they 
are apt to bend out of shape if lying on the sides. When the as- 
paragus is brought into the packing house for shipping fresh it is 
first separated into different grades. A tray of a size is then carried 
by a worker to a bench where the asparagus is laid stalk by stalk 
in a circular press and tied into a bunch with cotton tape or raffia. 
All the bunches are of one size and there is but one grade in each 
bunch. After being passed to an inspector, who returns any that 
is not up to the standard, the bunches have their ends cut off and 
are then wrapped in oiled paper and packed in crates. A couple 
of inches of wet moss is placed in the bottom of each crate to keep 
the asparagus fresh, and an inch or two of space is left at the top, 
as the stalks continue to grow during their journey and that amount 
of head-room is desirable. 

For near marketing in the height of the season the asparagus 
is usually delivered in open boxes holding forty to fifty pounds. 
Where bunching is desirable in garden practice, it can be neatly 
done by putting the stalks point downwards in a teacup, tying the 
bunch, and then squaring off the butts with a sharp knife. 

The asparagus season in California extends from January until 
June; although later cutting is sometimes practiced, it is not, as 
stated, for the good of the plants. 



132 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The Asparagus Rust. — The disease made a vigorous attack 
upon California asparagus fields in 1905. A careful study of the 
disease and experimentation conducted by Prof. R. E. Smith dem- 
onstrated that the trouble can be controlled by proper use of sul- 
phur for the protection of the top growth after the cutting season. 
Since that time, rust has not been considered a menace. Full infor- 
mation can be had from the University Experiment Station at 
Berkeley. 

VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

Conover's Colossal : an old standard variety ; large tender stalks 
of good flavor. Largely grown for the canneries, which use it 
almost to the exclusion of other sorts. 

Palmetto: widely grown in California; claimed to be earlier 
than Conover's, also more productive and uniform in size; quality 
fine; especially favored for fresh shipments from southern Cali- 
fornia. 

Argenteuil : also called "Giant Argenteuil" and "Early Purple 
Argenteuil ;" approved for shipping in Imperial valley, for size and 
colors of shoots and tenderness. 

Barr's Mammoth, Columbian Mammoth, and Dreer's Eclipse 
have been approved for garden planting to some extent. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
BEANS. 

The Broad Bean. — Vicia faha. 
French, feve; German, garten-bohne; Flemish, platteboon; Dutch, tuin 
boonen ; Danish, valske bonner ; Italian, fava ; Spanish, haba ; Portuguese, fava. 

The Kidney Bean. — Phaseolus vulgaris. 
French, haricot ; German, bohne ; Flemish and Dutch, boon ; Danish, have- 
bonnen; Italian, faginolo; Spanish, frijole; Portuguese, feijao. 

The Scarlet Runner Bean. — Phaseolus Multiflorus. 
French, haricots d'Espagne ; German, Arabische bohne; Dutch, Tursche 
boon; Italian, fagiuolo di Spagna. 

The Lima Bean. — Phaseolus lunatus. 
French, haricots de Lima ; German, breitshottige Lima bohne ; Italian, 
fagiuolo di Lima; Spanish, judia de Lima. 

The Black-eyed Bean. — Vigna sinensis. 
A cow pea. 

The Tepary Bean. — Phaseolus acutifolius; var. latifolius. 
The Soy Bean. — Glycine hispida. 

Of the vast numbers of bean varieties known to horticulture, 
California grows but very few. Market gardeners of different 
nationalities, ministering to their compatriots among our citizens, 
have brought to California many varieties which they esteemed in 
their old homes and grow them here in limited quantities, but the 
general markets and the gardens and fields of Americans can show 
but few sorts. This is due in part to the indisposition of the people 
to try culinary experiments and in part to the fact that some va- 
rieties have shown peculiar climatic adaptations and are, therefore, 
better from a grower's point of view. But though few varieties 
are grown, some of them are grown on a very large scale — to such 
an extent, in fact, that five counties on our southern coast win for 
California the distinction of being the greatest Lima bean produc- 
ing country in the world. 

The capacity of California for production of beans is appar- 
ently limited only by the extent to which the produce can be profit- 
ably sold. Whenever there is a falling off in local production of 
the common varieties east of the Rocky mountains, California ship- 
ments are freely made, and when, many years ago, there was a full 
train-load sold for Boston, California embraced not only the profit 
thereof, but the proud satisfaction that she was really doing some- 
thing worth while for the maintenance of the intellectual standard 
of the country. Train loads of beans have now become too com- 
mon to attract notice. 

[ 133 ] 



134 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

FIELD CULTURE OF BEANS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Though CaHfornia has great bean producing capacity, the area 
well suited to the product is comparatively limited and only a frac- 
tion of that has conditions which favor the Lima bean as a field 
crop. Making deductions from years of local experience it may be 
stated that the summer heat and drought of the interior plains are 
offensive to most varieties of the bean plant; that occasional frosts 
preclude the winter growth of the crop over wide areas where ordi- 
nary winter temperature and moisture would favor it ; that summer 
heat and drought modified by exposure to ocean influences or by 
influences existing on interior river-bottom lands, are acceptable to 
the plant and in such situations is the chief production. From a 
commercial point of view it is also quite important that toward 
the end of the season there should be a reduction of the amount of 
moisture in the soil, so that the plant may cease its growth and 
mature its seed before frosts occur or the fall rains make the har- 
vesting difficult and stain the beans. Favoring conditions are thus 
seen to be quite exacting. During the growing period of the plant 
there must be: first, no frost (except in the growth of varieties 
of the Broad Bean, which are measurably frost resistant) ; second, 
the least possible duration of hot, dry winds, and a moderated at- 
mospheric aridity generally ; third, adequate moisture both in air 
and soil to maintain healthful vegetative verdure followed by a 
dry-soil-ripening period just as soon as the vines have filled pods 
enough for a paying crop. 

Local Adaptations to Bean Growing. — These conditions are 
prescribed for a bean crop of the dry seed. They are all found in 
eminent degree on the coast sides of six counties : San Luis Obispo, 
Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego, and 
these counties produce perhaps three-fourths of the commercial bean 
crop of the state. Of course extensions of the region both north 
and south along the coast have similar conditions though in less 
degree — deficiency enough to warrant the remanding of the chief 
crop to the region named. Favorable conditions disappear with 
even greater rapidity toward the interior. Each of the counties is 
disposed on both sides of ridges of the Coast Range mountains. 
The ocean-side lands produce the beans ; the interior valleys of the 
same counties, perhaps not over fifteen miles away, are beanless. 
The mountain ridges exclude the ocean breeze and the occasional 
fogs and mists, and bean plants would perish from dry heat before 
a crop could be made. On the other hand, on the ocean side of the 
mountains, beans are planted in May, after the rains are practically 
over, and the ocean tempers heat and furnishes moisture to the air, 
so that, by conservation of soil-water by good cultivation, the crop 
is often made without a drop of rain from seed to harvest. 

On the moist or irrigated lands of the interior where heat and 
atmospheric aridity are tempered by evaporation from large sup- 



CALIFORNIA BEAN PRODUCT 135 

plies of fresh water or moist soil, there are also conditions which 
suit some varieties of beans very well, and good crops are made. 
But on interior lowlands there is often a summer rising of moist- 
ure from rivers, bank-full from melting mountain snows or other 
sources, which interferes with proper ripening of the beans by 
pushing the vegetative growth of the plants when they should be 
maturing a crop already formed. If, then, early rains come, the 
bean grower is apt to be caught with his work unfinished and his 
beans stained or sprouting. However, these troubles are not serious 
enough to cause the forsaking of the crop, and in an occasional 
year of drought, when the southern coast counties do not get rain- 
fall enough to make their full crop, the grower on the interior low- 
lands records a good profit. 

The market value of the field bean product of California for 
the year 1916 is placed at $20,000,000, as noted at the close of 
Chapter I. The great valuation is largely due to the high prices 
prevailing. Quantities are estimated as follows : 

Sacks 

Limas, sacks of 80 pounds 1,815,000 

Pinks, sacks of 85 pounds 825,000 

Blackeyes, sacks of 80 pounds 250,000 

Small Whites, sacks of 90 pounds 750,000 

Bayos, sacks of 85 pounds 100,000 

Large Whites, sacks of 92 pounds 150,000 

Cranberry, sacks of 80 pounds 150,000 

Red Mexican and Kidney, sacks of 80 pounds 50,000 

Totals 4,090,000 

Other estimates of annual crops are as follows : 1916, 3,600,- 
000; 1915, 3,868,000; 1914, 2,905,000; 1913, 1,165,000; 1912, 2,013,- 
000; 1911, 2,825,000; 1910, 1,950,000; 1909, 2,340,000 sacks averag- 
ing 80 pounds each. 

At an estimate of 20 sacks to the acre the acreage in beans in 
1916 was 180,000. The crop of 1917 has much larger acreage 
owing to war prices and exhortation to the greatest possible pro- 
duction. 

Soil for Beans. — A rich sandy soil, if it can be kept moist 
enough, is best suited to the growth of beans, and dry, hot, sandy 
soil is the worst, but even on sand near the beach, fair crops are 
sometimes made by the help of aerial moisture and coolness. The 
plant does not require very great amount of moisture, if heat and 
atmospheric aridity are not too great, but it insists upon a certain 
amount. Crops have been lost by choosing land that was too wet. 
But though a light soil seems to best suit the plant, it can be suc- 
cessfully grown on any good garden soil, providing good cultiva- 
tion is given and the land kept from baking and drying out. With 
adequate care in this regard, very good garden crops are grown even 
on adobe soil, but the commercial bean crops are grown on light 



136 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

soils because there are obvious cultural advantages in dealing with 
such soils. 

Preparation of Land for Beans. — As our chief crops of beans 
are grown without irrigation on light soils, in regions of moderate 
rainfall, the preparation of the soil should begin at the opening of 
the rainy season, so as to prepare the land for receiving and retain- 
ing the maximum amount of the rain that falls. Growth of weeds 
after harvesting the beans should be prevented by cultivation, be- 
cause weeds draw upon moisture and would produce seed for more 
weeds. This cultivation also opens the surface to absorb the early 
rains. When the soil is well moistened by rain, usually not later 
than January, a good plowing is given, and after that the chisel- 
toothed cultivator and the harrow or other tool fitted to break up 
all compacting of the soil at or below the surface, are used at short 
intervals through the winter to prevent evaporation, and retain 
moisture near the surface. There is some variation in winter prac- 
tice, as some plow deeply, some turn a shallow furrow, and some 
low plowing. In all cases the end in view is the same, to bring the 
land to planting time with moisture retained and mellow to receive 
the seed. 

Artificial inoculation of soil for beans is not usually found 
necessary in California, probably because bacteria are abundant 
from the previous growth of native legumes. 

Time of Planting. — Hints of this consideration have already 
been given to illustrate other points. As a general conclusion it 
may be added that California experience clearly points to undesir- 
ability of early planting simply to keep abreast of the calendar. 
Most of our commercial beans are of the phaseolus varieties (kid- 
neys, Limas, etc.), and they are tender and cannot be planted until 
frosts are over in each locality. The broad beans, especially the 
Portuguese bean, are more hardy and in some districts grow all 
winter, except in low, frosty places. The bush beans are hardier 
than the climbers and can be safely planted earlier, but there is 
nothing to be gained in planting either in advance of a good condi- 
tion of warmth and moisture in the soil. Rather than trust the seed 
to soil which is too cold or too wet it is better to wait a little, kill 
the weeds by shallow working, place the seed deep enough to 
insure its contact with moisture and then trust to the more rapid 
growth of the plant to make up for the delay. This it will usually 
do, and will shoot ahead so that it will be of good size for cultiva- 
tion by the time the weeds need another cutting. Just the time 
when the proper soil conditions may be expected to arrive will differ 
in the different localities, according to local rainfall and spring tem- 
peratures, the beginning of the frost-free period, the nature of the 
soil, etc. As a generalization, however, it may be put at May 1 to 
May 15 on the coast, with a range of May 1 to July 10 for interior 
lowlands in the central and northern parts of the state — chiefly to 
allow moist lands to come into planting condition, or to defer bloom- 



WAYS TO PLANT BEANS 137 

ing until the hot spells of June and July are passed. Such late 
planting is only safe on moist or irrigated lands in places where 
early fall frosts are not to be expected. Late planting is believed 
to reduce the danger from red spider. 

As to condition of soil and weather at planting Lima beans, in 
the coast regions where they are grown, it may be said that ample 
heat in connection with soil moisture is necessary to start this va- 
riety, and planting is rushed during a warm spell to insure these 
conditions. A rain after planting is counted a detriment, for if 
the temperature of the soil falls too low the seed is apt to rot. Be- 
sides a shower means more weeds, and some large growers count it 
cheaper to plow up the field and replant than to clean out the 
weeds in the rows. Small growers, however, usually undertake the 
hoeing rather than sacrifice the plant if the stand is a good one. 

Manner of Planting. — All commercial crops of beans, whether 
of bush or running varieties, are grown in rows. The planting is 
done with machines of different makes and sizes, though usually 
planting from two to four rows at a time. Depth is determined by 
the character of the soil and the season. The bean must be placed 
in moist soil, and if the surface is light and prone to dry out quickly, 
the greater depth is given, but the bean does not endure as deep 
covering as some other large seed. In a moist surface an inch will 
do, but in very light surface two inches is better. In some cases 
even a little more is desirable. It must be remembered that a few 
days' moisture must be assured to the seed to allow it to take hold 
of the soil. 

In light soils liable to strong winds, the planter should run at 
right angles to the course of the wind, for it has been observed that 
the sand is more easily shifted when the wind has the lengthwise 
course of the drills. 

Distance is dependent upon the variety. Lima beans are usually 
placed in rows about forty inches apart, with the planter rigged to 
drop seed at an average of about ten inches apart, in the row. Small 
beans of various kinds are given two to two and one-half feet be- 
tween the rows, and about four inches distance in the row. 

Once Over the Ground at Planting. — On land disposed to pack 
under heavy tools bean crops have been put in on land plowed the 
previous fall in this way. At the planting time in the spring use a 
bean chisel, pulled by a tractor, with a harrow hitched on behind, 
then a bean planter of multiple style and behind that a drag. This 
does the plowing, the cultivating and planting, and drags the land 
to keep the moisture in, all in one operation, and so does not be- 
gin to pack the soil as much as if two or three separate operations 
were made. 

Cultivation. — Frequent cultivation with knife-shaped teeth, is 
practiced in the best bean soils, to kill weeds and loosen the surface, 
until the running varieties cover the space so that they would be 
injured by cultivation. The vines then cover the ground and check 



138 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

evaporation and the crop is left to its own course. With bush va- 
rieties longer and deeper cultivation is desirable, at least if the 
ground is apt to become compact, so that the earth-mulch described 
in the chapter on cultivation is maintained. One grower at Marys- 
ville, who gets a very large yield of Lady Washingtons, starts in 
with chisel-toothed cultivators as soon as the rows can be deter- 
mined and continues at four- or five-day intervals as long as the 
cultivators can get through the rows. Eight to ten cultivations are 
given, the cost being about 35 cents an acre for each cultivation, 
$3.50 an acre for the season, which he considers a good investment 
for a greater crop. 

Irrigation. — Except on low moist land bean crops are usually 
considerably increased by irrigation. A long run of a small head 
of water in furrows between the rows is the common method, and 
one or two irrigations as needed in June and July are counted 
sufficient. 

Gathering. — Gathering the crop cannot usually wait until all 
the beans have ripened, for fear of shelling out the earlier maturing 
pods of some varieties, and for fear also of the fall rains already 
mentioned. Cutting should begin when the grower's judgment tells 
him he is about midway between the two dangers. The date will, 
of course, vary in different localities. The Lima bean has a longer 
growing season, and on the south coast is liable to encounter serious 
hot spells in August or September after other beans are matured 
and beyound injury. This heat shrivels the immature pods and les- 
sens the crop. 

Hand pulling or cutting of the vines, or plowing out, is no 
longer practiced in larger fields. A cutter operated by horse power 
is generally used. Two planks are framed and braced in sled-form, 
with cross pieces on the top, about four feet apart. From each, 
on the inside, a steel blade projects diagonally toward the center, 
some two feet, being fastened to the bottom of the sled runner. 
Two or three horses are hitched to the sled, which encloses two 
rows of beans; the blades of steel cut off the vines beneath the 
surface and push them into a central windrow so that they are 
readily gathered with pitch-forks and are thrown into heaps. An- 
other form of bean cutter is a sled armed with knives six feet long 
which come together in front and spread far enough behind to cut 
two rows at once. With these outside cutting knives the sled is 
not over two feet wide. Some grov/ers aim to have these knives 
run in the loose surface soil at a depth of about two inches ; others 
run them deeper — along the top of the firm earth below the culti- 
vated layer. 

There are some local variations in the form of the "cutter" or 
"harvester," and in some cases an iron-frame cutter constructed on 
the model of a V-shaped cultivator with guiding wheel is used. 
Recently manufacturers have designed improved forms of bean 
cutters which are displacing the old home-made contrivances and 



HARVESTING BEANS 139 

are much more capable in handling heavier growth of vines such 
as are made by "black-eyes." Growers of large bean acreages should 
study carefully to determine what devices are locally used with 
greatest economy and success. 

The beans are allowed to be in the field in small piles for two 
to four weeks, according to the curing quality of the local climate, 
until the vines are well dried. This not only facilitates the opening 
of the pods but saves the beans from staining by contact with green 
leaves or by the damp dust they gather. 

Threshing-floors. — The early method of threshing was by the 
of the threshing-floor, and it is still practiced or held in view to 
prevent excessive charges by machine owners. It is tedious work, 
requires many animals and exposes the beans to greater injury by 
early rains. A threshing-floor is made by wetting down a circular 
piece of ground about sixty or eighty feet across, tramp it with 
horses and wagons until smooth and hard ; then cover the floor with 
straw for a few days until it is dry, when it is ready for the beans. 
The first flooring of beans is put on deep, so the horses' hoofs do 
not cut the floor. Care should be taken all the time during threshing 
not to cut the floor. Two or three big wagon loads of beans are 
placed in a ring on this floor during very dry, clear weather. For- 
merly horses attached to light wagons were driven over the beans 
(usually two or three teams at a time), till they were all shelled 
from the pods. The vines are then thrown ofif and more beans from 
the field brought on. This process is continued until there are many 
tons of beans on the floor under those that are being threshed out. 
After this the whole mass of chaff and beans is run through win- 
nowing and screening machines and the beans placed in sacks of 
seventy-five to eighty pounds each and are ready for market. Of 
late years the teams on the floor are attached to disc machines in- 
stead of wagons, which greatly facilitates the work. The use of 
a large roller on the threshing floor is preferred by some growers. 

In suitable weather tramping is a less expensive method than 
threshing by machinery, but there is far greater danger from sud- 
den storms of rain, as beans on the tramping-floor are in the worst 
possible shape in wet weather. Beans in the field can stand an inch 
or two of rain without much injury, if allowed to thoroughly dry 
before threshing. But beans wet on a tramping-floor while mixed 
with pulverized leaves are irreparably damaged, being stained and 
heated before it is possible to clean them. Every farmer who tramps 
out his beans should be provided with sheets of canvas sufficient to 
cover all unwinnowed or sacked beans liable to be left out during a 
shower. During extreme dry weather beans can be tramped well, 
the pods being dry and brittle while the vines are still green and 
tough, a condition in which a machine cannot work in them at all. 

Machine Threshing. — For many years attempts were made to 
use modified grain threshers for separating beans. At first there 
was too great a percentage of cracked beans, but latterly machine 



140 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

work has become more satisfactory. The following account of 
bean threshing is prepared by L. W. Fluharty : 

The threshing is usually done with the bean huller, using either a steam 
or gasoline engine for power. The huller is a double threshing machine. 
There are two cylinders, one of which is placed in the rear of the other. The 
rear cyhnder operates much faster than does the front one. The cylinder teeth 
are set one-fourth of an inch farther from the concave teeth than in the reg- 
ular grain separator. The front cylinder threshes only the beans from the 
driest pods. The vines, together with the tougher pods pass to the rear cylin- 
der, thus the beans and the tougher pods are threshed by the high velocity 
cylinder while the dry beans pass through only the one running at a low rate 
of speed. Much cracking is prevented by this arrangement. 

A grain separator may, by proper manipulation, be made to do very satis- 
factory work provided the vines and pods are nearly uniform in dryness. All 
but one row of concave teeth and generally half of the cyhnder teeth are re- 
moved. The cylinder is run at a speed of from 350 to 400 revolutions per 
minute, the speed depending upon the diameter of the cylinder — the larger the 
cylinder the slower it must be run. The drive pulley is enlarged so that the 
separating part of the machine runs at the usual speed for separating grain. 

The tailings from the sieves are returned to the separator at the rear 
instead of in front of the cylinder. By this arrangement none of the threshed 
beans pass through the cylinder the second time. If there is a large amount 
of green pods the tailings are sometimes taken from the machine at the bot- 
tom of the elevator. In this way it is often possible to avoid mixing the green 
beans with those that are ripe. If the regular grain separator is used the 
threshing should be done while the vines are in the sweat, for at that time the 
seed is tough and not easily cracked. 

The beans are gathered into header wagons, with beds ten feet 
wide and sixteen feet long. One side of the bed is considerably 
higher than the other, and a large and strong net is spread over the 
entire bed, fastened on one side, and into which the beans are forked. 
This is driven to the threshing machine, where a derrick lifts up the 
lower side of the net and tumbles the contents onto a large platform, 
after which the straw and beans are fed into the machine with pitch- 
forks. It requires eight header wagons to keep the machine busy. 
Fifteen hundred sacks, averaging seventy pounds each, or one hun- 
dred and five thousand pounds, is considered a good day's work. 

The machine-threshed beans have also to be recleaned before 
they are marketed. Yet there is one great advantage with the steam 
thresher. The rainy season is approaching, and a shower is liable 
to fall in October while the threshing process is in full blast, so that 
any beans that are caught on the floors are ruined if they do not 
manage to cover them in some way, while by the machine process 
all beans are sacked as they are threshed. 

Bean Cleaning. — It is imperative now that beans should be put 
into good marketable condition. When prices are high the quality 
and condition of the beans does not materially interfere with the 
sales, but in times of plenty, the best is hardly good enough and the 
most scrupulous attention is given as to the quality. To insure the 
most ready sale at best prices, every grower should have the reputa- 
tion of putting his beans in the sack for sale in thoroughly sound and 



INSECTS INJURING BEANS 141 

clean condition, even by hand-picking if necessary, A dirty lot of 
beans from any locality injures not the grower alone but casts sus- 
picion on all the product of that place. In preventing this, associated 
effort of growers has accomplished much. 

Bean Bugs. — Three insects particularly bother the grower. 
They are weevils, red-spider and thrips. The weevil is started in 
the green growing bean, the egg being laid on the seam of the pod 
when small. Beans should be gathered as soon as ripe. If there are 
then bean larvae working on them, they can be killed by heating 
the beans to 130 degrees in the oven, but of course one must not 
get higher heat if it is expected to plant any of the beans next year. 
The larvae can also be killed by putting the sack in a tight barrel 
and pouring carbon bisulphide into an open dish on top of the seed. 
An ounce for each 75 to 100 pounds is recommended. As the fumes 
from the liquid settle among the beans, all of the weevils are killed. 
The gas should be allowed to act from 24 to 36 hours, and as it is 
highly explosive it should not be exposed to artificial light or fire. 

If the growing plants have whitish or yellowish leaves with 
roughened surfaces either red spider or thrips, or both, are at work. 
Red spider is destroyed by dry sulphuring the foliage. Thrips re- 
quire spraying with a soap and nicotine wash such as is described 
in Chapter XXXVIII. 

Rotation of Crops. — It has been the experience of bean growers 
hitherto that many crops of beans can be grown successfully on the 
same soil without great difference in the yield — that is, the land 
does not clearly show wear, and some claim that following crops 
are better by growing beans after beans. It is clear that following 
a bean crop improves barley, potatoes or other succeeding crops. 
This might be expected from what is now known of the power of 
the legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen by means of their roots. 
Our best bean soils are so rich naturally that they are able to en- 
dure a long cropping period and growers are apt to look upon the 
soil as a constant factor and wish that the weather could be placed 
in the same category. 

VARIETIES FOR FIELD CULTURE. 

The Lima Bean. — The Lima is the great bean of California so 
far as the outside world is concerned, because though other beans 
are grown everywhere, a small area of our state, as already men- 
tioned, is especially adapted by its favoring local climate to the 
growth of this rather exacting variety. The variety grown is the 
old "Large Lima," well known to the trade and well adapted to the 
region, and however popular the dwarf Limas may become as 
garden varieties they do not promise to supplant the old sort in its 
stronghold. Improved strains are being secured by selection by 
several Ventura county growers, and much greater yield to the plant 
is foreshadowed. Though the Lima is a running bean no support is 
given it in field culture. It is safe and comfortable reclining on the 



142 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

dry, warm soil, with its verdure always freshened by the breezes of 
the Pacific, which Hes in plain sight of most fields. Thousands of 
acres are thus laid out green and level as a meadow to the distant 
viewer — the scene unmarred by fence or other obstruction, for the 
fields are usually subject to no unwelcome intrusion except hot blasts 
of air which rarely beat back the ocean breeze and harm the plant. 
In most years without a drop of summer rain and held in heart by 
the insensible ocean vapor and occasionally by fog and mist, the Lima 
bean often yields the growers an average of a ton to the acre of 
good land, and sometimes does more than fifty per cent better than 
that. On large, uneven tracts, the average would, of course, be less. 
In 1911 in Los Angeles county 1,364 acres yielded 22,000 sacks — 
about 1,300 lbs. to the acre. During recent years, preceding the 
European war, the price of Lima beans had been reduced, but there 
still remained a narrow margin, because production was accom- 
plished at less cost through improved methods and machinery. 
There is also an association of Lima bean growers which is assist- 
ing producers to secure all that the market will warrant. Lima 
bean straw is an important by-product, as it sells readily to stock- 
feeders at $4 to $5 per ton, according to the demand in different 
years — and in a time of scarce fodder has sold as high as $15 per 
ton as a substitute for hay. 

The Small White Bean. — This is the accepted local name for 
the variety which is called the Navy bean at the East. The seed 
was brought from the state of New York as far back as 1852. The 
Small White has a polished or varnished surface which prevents 
rapid absorption of moisture. This not only especially fits it for 
shipping by sea and gives it great keeping quality, but it enables the 
bean to hold its form through cooking processes. Large quantities 
are shipped to Boston, where they are used in preparing "Boston 
canned beans," which are sold all over the United States. The 
Small White Bean is chiefly grown in Monterey, San Luis Obispo 
and Santa Barbara counties. 

The Pea Bean. — This is another Small White bean which was 
introduced into California early in the fifties. The variety has a 
very thin transparent skin which admits moisture readily and is apt 
to disintegrate in cooking. The Pea bean is grown along the Sac- 
ramento river and in Ventura county, but not in large amounts. 

The Large White Bean. — This variety is also known as the 
Lady Washington. At the East it is rated in the trade as a medium 
bean ; it is a little larger than the Small White. The seed was in- 
troduced from the East in early times. The variety is chiefly grown 
in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river country and in the central 
coast counties. 

The Bayo Bean. — There are two varieties grown, the Bayo 
Grande and Bayo Chico. The former is large, the latter small; 
both are brown. The seed came from Chile in 1849. The Bayo is 
chiefly grown in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river region. 



VARIETIES OF BEANS 143 

There is also a dark red bean which was brought from. Chile, and 
usually named from its color. 

The Pink Bean. — This variety is sufficiently described by its 
name. It has been in California so long that its origin is unknown, 
and our best bean merchants have never seen it from any other 
source than this state. It is a first-class bean, and the citizens of 
Spanish descent prefer it to all other varieties, and it is largely 
grown for their use in San Luis Obispo county. It is grown to a 
considerable extent in Sacramento river lands and is perhaps the 
most successful variety at points in the San Joaquin valley. It holds 
place also in the southern coast district. 

Mexican Red. — Like the Pink, but darker colored, and like it, 
hardy and productive under different conditions. 

Cranberry. — Another pink and red bean which is gaining some 
standing as a dry bean. 

Red Kidney. — An old garden variety chiefly in demand by 
canners. The largest colored bean but not largely grown. 

Tcpary. — A small, white bean from Arizona, believed to be of 
ancient origin and fully discussed in the publications of the Arizona 
Experiment Station. It recently became widely popular in Cali- 
fornia because of its heat resistance and heavy bearing in interior 
valley situations, which distress most of the widely known varieties. 
Its commercial standing is not fully determined. 

The Butter Bean. — This is the local name for what is known 
as the "Flageolet" in France, whence the seed was brought to this 
state. It is large, white and flattish. It is going out of production 
here, as the seed is apparently running out, the size being only half 
that of thirty-five or forty years ago. 

The Black-eye Bean. — It is thought that this variety came from 
Virginia. It is grown in all the leading bean districts. This and 
other of the "cow pea" group are grown to some extent, as a cover 
crop for plowing under, in the citrus orchards, and a seed crop is 
also sometimes harvested in the citrus districts. 

The Soy Bean. — This Asiatic species, which has many varieties, 
is grown to a limited amount by Chinese and Japanese on river 
bottom and reclaimed lands, both for forage and food. 

The Horse Bean. — A broad bean, chiefly grown by Portuguese 
in the San Francisco Bay region; hardy and prolific, making free 
winter growth where freezing is quite sharp. The beans are very 
subject to weevils and, therefore, are in bad commercial repute. 
They are now being widely grown for green manuring as they use 
surplus rainfall moisture. They are upright growers and ordinary 
bean harvesting methods are not generally used. The stalks may 
be cut with hand sickles but a combined self-raking reaper is some- 
times used. The dry crop is used for stock-feeding. 

The Castor Bean. — Though the Castor bean is inedible, some 
reader may expect its name to carry it into this connection. As a 
profitable crop the Castor bean has been a disappointment. There 



144 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

were more Castor beans grown in California before 1875 than there 
have ever been since. The price has always been limited by what 
oil-makers had to pay for beans laid down here from Calcutta, and 
that was too low to meet high labor cost in California. There is a 
long ripening and drying season in California, but the crop re- 
quires much hand labor cutting the clusters as they reach condi- 
tion all through the fall, and in drying the clusters so the beans will 
pop out. Oil makers will not pay enough to cover this cost. The 
large ornamental Castor bean plants which are abundant in this 
state are not the oil-making variety, 

GARDEN CULTURE OF BEANS. 

Much that has been said about the field growth of beans ap- 
plies to the garden culture. Condition of soil and time for planting 
are practically the same, and so are the characters of the growing 
season, except that the gardener cares little for the maturing of his 
crop, but prefers a green succession. A condition of late summer 
moisture, then, that would be a serious trouble in the field, is an 
advantage in the garden. For a product of beans as a green vege- 
table, the drying out which promotes maturity is to be prevented, 
and if this is successfully done, either upon naturally moist or irri- 
gated land, the bean plants will continue their yield of green pods 
until frost cuts them down. As California has, as a rule, a very 
long frostless season, the bearing season of green pluckings may 
cover several months. 

In frostless places, or in places of light frosts, where the grower 
affords slight protective covering, the bean continues its growth and 
bearing into the winter and vines of some varieties assert their 
perennial character. Even where the frosts cut down the top, some 
of the phaseolus varieties maintain their life and start again freely 
from the old roots when the spring warmth invites activity. 

The continued growth of the bean late in the fall, in the ab- 
sence of frost, sometimes affords a better late than early crop, 
because certain insets which destroy the early blossoms cease from 
their labors, or because too high heat no longer blights the bloom. 
It is often the reward of the amateur gardener, who promotes late 
growth of his bean plants by continued irrigation, to gather ample 
supplies of tender pods when less diligent growers have none. Mid- 
summer bean planting on moist interior lands is also a good practice, 
as it gives the plant a growing season in the fall when the hot and 
dry summer conditions are relaxed. 

The planting of beans in frostless situations in the fall for a 
winter crop is, of course, a limited enterprise, and attended by con- 
siderable risk, because never having a frost, means hardly ever, and 
yet good returns are often made in a few places already designated 
in the chapters on climates and the planting season. 

The winter preparation for field planting on the light soils that 
are mainly used for that purpose will do for the same soils and situa- 



BEANS IN THE HOME GARDEN 145 

tions for garden growth, but where beans have to go upon rather 
heavier soil in regions of heavier rains, it is necessary to give more 
thorough spring cultivation to overcome the compacting of the soil 
by the rain, and make it suitably mellow for the crop. For this 
purpose, spring plowing twice, the second shallower than the first, 
and good harrowing following the second plowing, are desirable. 
All this work should be done when the soil works freely, and 
only then. 

In rainfall garden practice, wdiere moisture is short, the land 
should lie in shape for taking in water all during the earlier part 
of the rainy season, and not be cropped nor left hard for the spring 
working, but where moisture is ample, the land may carry first a 
fall-planted crop of hardy vegetables for winter use, provided this 
crop is cleared away by February and the land put into condition to 
store up the spring rains for the use of the beans. This practice 
depends upon the likelihood of the late rains being generous, and 
the soil being retentive enough. 

In garden practice young beans are quite subject to "damping 
ofiF," as discussed in Chapter XI. The lower part of the little stem, 
from the ground upward for a couple of inches, loses color — be- 
coming limp and palid and the upper part wilting and dying after- 
wards. The preventive is to allow the soil surface to become dry, 
which may be promoted by cultivation, as soon as the seedlings 
appear, or by sanding the surface around them. It is much less 
likely to occur when a good deep-soaking irrigation is employed 
instead of frequent sprinkling, which keeps the surface too moist. 

Bush Beans. — Varieties of this class are hardier than most 
climbing beans and are safely planted earlier — perhaps from one to 
two weeks usually, but they should not be planted until the soil be- 
comes warm and loses its excess of water. For hand-hoeing the 
rows can be fifteen to eighteen inches apart, and for horse cultiva- 
tion two feet. About four inches apart in the drill, and covered 
from one to two inches, according to soil and season, is ordinary 
practice. The plants can also be grown in hills. If the ground is in 
good condition the seed can be planted before the lighter frosts of 
spring are all over, and by slight covering they can be carried 
through. The bush varieties will endure more cold and more heat 
than the climbing sorts, but any considerable planting should wait 
until the frost danger for the locality is over. Later plantings 
should be made at short intervals, for succession and irrigation 
must usually be resorted to quite early in the summer, except on 
moist land or on the immediate coast. 

Bush beans are usually divided into two groups : those with 
green pods and those with waxen, or light yellow pods. The fol- 
lowing are favorites in this state : 

Early Mohawk, hardy and early for early crop, large flattish 
pods. 



146 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Dwarf Horticultural, or Cranberry, vigorous grower, large 
leaves; pods medium, curved; beans pale pink, marked with red. 

Burpee Stringless, Green Pod, early, straight, roundish pod, 
brittle and stringless. 

Extra Early Valentine, said to be fit to gather in thirty-five to 
forty days from planting, green pod, medium sized, fleshy, keeps 
green longer than most kinds — a favorite in the Sacramento valley. 
Extra Early Refugee, popular with early vegetable shippers, 
round pods, bright green, very productive, largely grown in Vaca- 
ville and other early regions. 

Long Yellow Six Weeks, pods long, early, very productive, 
excellent quality; popular in southern California. 

Golden Wax, early, strong grower, long pods, very brittle and 
stringless, popular in the Sacramento valley, coast valleys and 
southern California, where it is commended as most likely to come 
through from late planting. 

Canadian Wonder, long, straight pods, not stringless, but ac- 
ceptable; seed dark red. Especially hardy and adapted to winter 
growth through light frosts. Good for early and late planting and 
profitable ; maturing during long shipping season. 

Ventura Wonder Wax. A California variety; very stocky 
growth and prolific ; pods long, flat, yellow ; beans white. 

Davis White Wax, broad pods, clear light yellow, productive, 
tender and delicate flavor. 

Warden's Kidney Wax, long, flat and showy tender pods, 
strong grower, prolific. Beans shapely, pure white with purple eye ; 
little later than Golden Wax. 

Prolific Black Wax, long and large pods, golden color, very 
productive, bearing early and through a long season. 

Burpee's Bush Lima, reported by California growers as the best 
of the dwarf Limas. 

Broad Beans. — These beans are related to the so-called horse 
bean, but by breeding have lost much of the strong flavor of the 
horse bean, and have so increased in size of the seed that they are 
several times larger than the horse bean. In Europe they are es- 
teemed as a highly nutritious and palatable vegetable. The seeds 
only are eaten and are prepared for table in much the same manner 
as Lima beans. As Lima beans are more delicate in flavor and 
nearly always available in California markets there is less chance 
for broad beans than elsewhere, and yet the fact that they are more 
easily grown gives them claim to attention. The plants are pro- 
ductive and will flourish in almost any locality. The seed should be 
planted about three inches deep in double rows, eight inches be- 
tween the rows forming the double line, four inches between the 
plants in the rows, and three feet between the double rows. The 
early formation of seed can be hastened by removing the terminal 
bud of the plants when they have reached the height of between 
four and five feet, and have produced enough flowers to insure a 



WAYS WITH CLIMBING BEANS 147 

good crop of pods. The Green Windsor is the best known broad 
bean. 

Climhing Beans. — Pole beans are usually more susceptible to 
heat and drought than the better bush varieties, and they are dis- 
appointing in other ways. Near the coast, however, they may be 
grown and trained in any way the grower pleases, from a six-foot 
staff to a whole wigwam of poles and strings. In the catalogues of 
California seedsmen many good varieties for amateur trial are de- 
scribed. The best climbing bean for most California situations is 
the Kentucky Wonder, or Old Homestead, which bears a mass of 
pods when grown to a six-foot stake. It is quite hardy and can 
be safely planted a week or more before many other varieties. It 
is a medium early bean and takes very readily to the poles ; wonder- 
fully prolific, the vines being actually loaded from top to bottom 
with pods from six to nine inches in length ; as string beans, the 
pods are nearly round, tender and very solid. The White-seeded 
Kentucky Wonder has recently become popular with market garden- 
ers because its pod-color is very attractive and it is said to be more 
resistant of mildew. The Gray-seeded Wonder is also esteemed. 
The Case Knife and the Asparagus or Yard Long are also excellent 
climbing beans ; the latter especially as a string bean. 

Trellising Beans. — Instead of unsightly crooked poles, subject 
to being blown down and always to be set up in the spring and 
stacked in the fall, always to be renewed about every four years, 
set six-foot posts about a rod apart through the beanfield and string 
a wire over the tops of them above the rows of beans. The end 
posts are braced. A cotton string is hung from the wire to the 
ground at each hill of beans, 15 inches apart. The strings support 
the vines till they reach the wires where they make a neat hedge 
effect with just room between the rows for pickers. 

Perennial Beans. — It is not unusual for the California gardener 
to find when he is digging over his bean ground in the spring that 
the old roots of the preceding crop are not dead but are making 
new sprouts. One grower in Alameda who had this experience 
was adventurous enough to save these roots and got a second year's 
crop from them. Afterward he transplanted such roots, mulched 
them in the winter and finally had bean plants two, three and four 
years old, bearing profusely and making from two to four vines 
from each root, growing twelve feet high, and yielding heavily. 
The crowns of such roots are often about two inches in diameter. 
These beans are usually of the scarlet runner class, though some of 
the white climbing forms have perennial roots. In an amateur's 
garden they are very interesting and useful in places where frosts 
are over before heat enough comes to start the top growth from 
the perennial roots. 

Transplanted Beans. — Beans may be easily grown early in 
moist sand in a protected place and set out when several inches 
high when the soil and air are fit to receive them. The best way to 



148 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

get a good start in a family garden is the method of Mr. Adams, 
described in Chapter XI, by which a whole hill is moved from 
under cover to open ground at one operation. 

Groiving Beans in the Irrigated Garden. — Beans may be irri- 
gated in any of the ways described for garden practice, according 
to the character of the soil. They will stand flooding of the ground, 
if it is done at sundown. They will also grow well on the ridge 
systems, either with water above or below, according to the soil. 
Shallow planting should be done when the ground is to be kept 
moist by irrigation. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE BEET. 

The Beet. — Beta vulgaris. 
French, betterave ; German, runkelrube ; Dutch and Flemish, betwortel ; 
Danish, rodbede ; Italian, barbabietola ; Spanish, remolacha ; Portuguese, 
betarava. 

Leaf-Beet or Swiss Chard. — Idem. 
French, poiree, German, beisskohl ; Dutch and Flemish, snij beet ; Danish, 
blad bede ; Italian, bieta ; Spanish, bleda ; Portuguese, a celga. 

The beet as a garden vegetable is taken from the ground every 
day in the year in CaHfornia. It can be sown at ahnost any time, 
and at all stages of its growth is uninjured by any temperature 
which is experienced in California valleys. Moisture conditions do, 
however, affect its growth. It is unwise to sow the seed in cold, 
wet ground, but if the seedling has taken hold it can endure ex- 
tremes of saturation or drought for a long period, and it is not 
injured for any purpose by standing where it has grown for a con- 
siderable time after it has reached its first maturity. The beet is 
counted, however, rather a coarse vegetable, and would be con- 
signed to rather a lowly place did not its present achievements and 
its greater promise as a source of sugar give it commanding im- 
portance. Though our people are somewhat chary about putting 
the boiled beet-root in their table china, they do not hesitate to 
install in cut glass or silver bowls the solid extract of beet-root in 
the form of sugar cubes or granules. The industrial importance 
of the beet includes also its value and availability as an auxiliary 
cattle food, and it is all the more esteemed for that purpose because 
in our climate it needs no root-cellar or even earth-covering, but is 
pulled all days of the year, fresh and succulent, from the site in 
which the seed was cast months before. 

the garden beet. 

Though, as stated, the beet is hardy under all our conditions, 
it needs for the proper germination of its seed moist, warm ground, 
and it makes rapid and tender growth with the same soil conditions. 
In cold, wet soil or in hot, dry land, it will grow slowly and will 
be tough and of inferior flavor. Though it is true that beets will 
endure much drought, growing slowly and rooting deeply on land 
where grain and hay would fail and subsequently, with the coming 
of the fall rains, assume more active growth and reach large size 
for the winter feeding of stock, it is not in that way that tender 
and sound-flavored table beets can be produced. They should make 
rapid growth from start to finish, and then they may remain in 

[149] 



150 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

their places for some time without notable loss of quality, unless 
the ground is heavy, becomes saturated and retains water. In fact, 
some growers on well-cultivated upland loams claim that the beets 
improve in the soil and are sweetest and tenderest just before 
sending up their seed stalks. In localities with excessive rains, it 
is often desirable to gather beets and pack them away in dry sand, 
but in most places open air winter conditions do not make this neces- 
sary. On the other hand, as the seed may be almost continuously 
planted if moisture conditions are arranged, small planting for 
several successions should be the rule in the family or sale garden, 
if long use from one planting shows deterioration. 

Garden Culture. — Beets may be grown in the hand-hoed gar- 
den in rows twelve inches apart, or even nearer than that if space 
is precious, but rows for horse work should be eighteen inches or 
two feet, as may be necessary to insure that the distance chosen 
shall bring the rows of upright growers uniform distances apart 
for ease of cultivation with implements that cover several rows at 
one passage. The small varieties popular in this state do not need 
that distance, but all narrow spacing is grievous in the use of 
horse tools. 

The soil for beets should be well worked to allow natural pen- 
etration, for the beet has a taproot of great importance in its de- 
velopment. The seed may be soaked before planting if the ground 
is inclined to be dry, and should be covered from three-quarters 
of an inch to two inches, according as the soil is heavy and moist 
or light and dry. In late planting the seed must go down to moist- 
ure, and there is then little danger of rain compacting the cover- 
ing. Planting may be done any time when the soil is moist and 
warm, but never when it is cold or wet. Seed may be spaced an 
inch in the drill approximately, but while still small the plants 
should be thinned to six or eight inches. The sooner this is done 
after the plants have reached a height of three or four inches the 
better. It is quite a common practice to allow the rows to grow 
thickly until the thinnings are large enough for greens. The prac- 
tice injures the surviving beets, for they never reach quite the de- 
velopment they would if they had never been crowded, but with 
some the gain of the greens is a compensation. 

Varieties. — The garden beets popular in California for table 
use are all the round or flat shapes, and all of red color. 

Detroit Dark Red, globular, rich red flesh ; tops small and 
green. 

The Eclipse, an old favorite, is still of wide popularity. It is 
early and of good quality, and symmetrical, round form. Said to 
be better than others for late planting. 

Crimson Globe, medium size, globular, smooth; small taproot 
and abundant foliage, protecting root crown. 

The Extra Early Egyptian is of flat, turnip shape, very deep 
color, early, tender and fine. 



THE SWISS CHARD 151 

Morse's Improved Blood Turnip, especially selected for style 
and quality, deep red, green tops. 

A, & M. Bassano, commanded for tenderness and shapeliness 
and flavor. Popular with market gardeners. 

Crosby's Egyptian, of flatter form than Early Egyptian, good 
for early use, but maintains tenderness well as it gets larger size, 
very bright clear red flesh. 

Edmunds' Blood Turnip is another favorite market variety, 
round and smooth, deep color and good quality. 

Early Blood Turnip is also largely grown. It is round, good 
form and quality. 

Long Smooth Blood is an old standard variety for those who 
like beets for slicing. It roots deeply and stands drought well. 

THE LEAF-BEET OR SWISS CHARD. 

This plant is a beet grown for its foliage and not for its root, 
which is small and branching. Its cultivation is, however, exactly 
like that of the beet root, except that its rooting habit allows of 
shallow tillage, but it enjoys good conditions in the soil and mani- 
fests its delight by grander foHage, which is very desirable and is 
used as spinach is. Chard is not largely grown in California be- 
cause conditions are so favorable for continual supplies of spinach, 
which is preferred, and yet many find it desirable. It is also grown 
for green feed for poultry in the autumn from planting as late 
as July. 

THE SUGAR BEET IN CALIFORNIA. 

All that has been said in preceding chapters on California 
climates and soils has direct reference to the exceptional adaptation 
of the state to the growth of the sugar beet and the manufacture 
of beet sugar. The vast area of rich, deep, loamy and easily- 
worked soils, which afford the plant deep rooting, free expansion 
and large yield of rich beets ; the equable climate, which insures 
ample sun-action, freedom from low temperature, and an almost 
continuous growing season through the year for a hardy plant like 
the beet, and thus provides for sugar factories a maximum working 
season without protection of the rich, raw material from freezing — 
these are local advantages for beet growing and sugar making the 
importance of which it is difficult to overestimate. There are also 
many incidental advantages and benefits in ground which does not 
freeze and in factories where the absence of freezing temperature 
makes it unnecessary to build for protection of men, materials and 
machinery, except from heat and rain. 

Extent of the Industry. — Eleven beet-sugar factories in Cali- 
fornia produced, in 1916, 243,800 tons of sugar, from 144,200 acres 
of beets. Large as this quantity is, it is small compared with the 
possible production in California, as there are seven hundred and 
fifty thousand acres perfectly adapted to the raising of sugar beets. 



152 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Allowing for proper rotation of crops, about two hundred thou- 
sand acres would be available each year — capable of producing two 
million five hundred thousand tons of beets and three hundred and 
fifty thousand tons of sugar. 

In 1917 California has fifteen factories in operation or nearing 
completion. They are located in counties as given below : 

Alameda 1 San Bernardino 1 

Glenn 1 San Joaquin 2 

Kings 1 Santa Barbara 1 

Monterey 1 Tulare 1 

Orange 5 Ventura 1 

According to Professor R. L. Adams: "Some idea of the rapid 
development and resultant importance of the beet industry to the 
state may be gleaned from the fact that in the relatively short 
period of ten years the acreage has increased from approximately 
60,000 acres in 1906 to an estimated acreage of over 144,000 in 
1916. By three-year averages the acreage has risen from an aver- 
age annual acreage for the years 1907-09 of 64,227 acres to 98,960 
acres for 1910-12, and to 118,600 acres for 1913-15. Indications 
point to an increasingly larger area for the near future." * 

Comparative statistics show that the proportion of saccharine 
is greater in the beets grown here than in any other locality, whether 
in Europe or America. The plant itself becomes a more active 
worker and extracts more sugar from California soil and sunshine 
than it does elsewhere. 

Situations and Soils. — Of the fifteen factories cited ten are in 
the coast valley region south of San Francisco, one in the Sacra- 
mento valley, four are in the San Joaquin valley and the large area 
noted as adapted to sugar-beet production is obtained by computa- 
tion of our valley acreage. For the most economical production of 
uniformly good beets, fairly level fields are of great advantage. 
To get the largest profits there must be the use of the most ca- 
pacious planting, cultivating and harvesting appliances, and all these 
are best suited to level or gently sloping lands. As most of these 
lands, except in coast valleys, lie in regions of moderate rainfall 
there is seldom the need of underdrainage, but the problem is 
rather one of moisture conservation, and that is in most cases 
easily accomplished by cultivation, to the extent required by the 
beet which roots deeply and draws its moisture from a large soil 
volume. Where it may be necessary to concentrate the rainfall of 
two seasons for one crop, the method of a constantly stirred sum- 
mer fallow, which insures a crop of grain in spite of low rainfall, 
will do the same for a crop of beets, providing the relatively deeper 
cultivation required by the beet is given. 

Though nearly all fertile soils will grow good sugar beets if 
well tilled for moisture retention and for root penetration and ex- 

*Circular 165, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of California, Berkeley, on 
"Fundamentals of Sugar Beet Culture Under California Conditions." 



BEET SUGAR IN CALIFORNIA 153 

pansion, a rich, mellow loam, deeply worked and with medium moist- 
ure conditions, is the ideal for the purpose. Sandy soil, which dry 
out in spite of cultivation, are available for beet growing by care- 
ful irrigation. Heavy, wet soils may be put into condition by un- 
derdrainage and cultivation, but there are such vast areas of soils 
which will suit the beet without either irrigation or drainage, it is 
probable that improvements in these lines will be left for the future. 
Tillage for Beets. — Land for beets should be taken in hand 
early. If it has not been summer-fallowed the previous summer, 
it may receive a shallow plowing early in the fall, being left rough 
to receive the rainfall. As soon as the heaviest and coldest rains 
of the season are over in the locality a deep plowing should be 
given, so as to secure a seed bed of ten or twelve inches depth of 
stirred soil. This practice is best for coast valleys, where spring 
rains after the plowing are likely to be sufficient to restore to the 
soil a proper degree of compactness. In light, open soils, with 
scant spring rains, the first plowing should be deep and the second 
shallow for fear of leaving the lower strata too open. It is often 
good practice to rely upon one good plowing early in the winter, 
followed by the use of the chisel cultivator, harrow and clod- 
crusher, to bring the surface into fine mellow condition to receive 
the seed. Modification of methods must be made according to local 
soil and rainfall, but the condition to be aimed at is deep stirring, 
lower strata, moist but not wet, surface fine and moisture near it, 
but not disposed to bake or crust with rains, which may follow 
sowing. 

Rotation. — Beets make a strong draft on some components of 
the soil, and it is a common experience that they should not be 
grown year after year for a long period, but should take their place 
in a rotation, in the course of which one or two crops of beets 
should be followed by a crop of grain or potatoes, and that, if pos- 
sible, by a leguminous plant like beans, alfalfa or an annual legume 
like burr clover used for pasturage, and then to beets again. Beets 
improve soil for grain, because of the deep running of the root, and 
because beet culture is not profitable without deep plowing and con- 
tinuous summer cultivation. This deepens and cleans the land to 
the manifest advantage of the grain crop, but still the beet reduces 
the plant food in the soil and some change of crop should be made 
with reference to its restoration, and this is the reason for the legu- 
minous plant and pasturage if possible. 

Planting. — Sugar beets are grown in drills about eighteen to 
twenty inches apart. Seeding is done with machines. Covering 
should be as shallow as will bring the seed into soil, which will 
remain moist; depth depends upon earliness of sowing, character 
of soil, as already explained in other connections. Sometimes it is 
desirable to cover as deeply as two inches ; sometimes, and usually, 
perhaps, one inch or a little less. In late sowings, when the sur- 
face has become quite dry, an attachment to the drill which pushes 



154 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

aside part of the dry surface and brings the seed into moist soil 
without running too deep, has been found vahtable. The greatest 
care should be taken to have the rows straight. Possibly most beets 
are grown in crooked rows, as it has long been said of corn, but 
the whole after course of the field is improved by running the drill 
straight. It is undesirable to have a rain just after planting, unless 
the land is very light and dry. If crust forms it must be broken by 
light harrowing or rolling. 

The time of planting depends upon the local climate and the 
character and condition of the soil. With reference to local climates 
Professor Adams says : 

The commercial time of planting in California covers a period from 
October 1 until June 1, local conditions largely influencing the time when the 
seed is sown. In general, as near as a rule can be given, fall planting — 
October, November and December — is more common in the southern portion 
of the state ; early spring planting — last of January and February — in the Sac- 
ramento and San Joaquin valleys ; and later spring planting — February 1 to 
June 1 — in the coast sections, such as Monterey and Santa Barbara counties. 
Local conditions will determine the best time to sow, but as a general recom- 
mendation, as early planting as is possible is to be strongly recommended. 
Although early planting carries with it attendant difficulties of soil prepara- 
tion, weed destruction, thinning and hoeing, danger of root rot and crusting, 
the increased tonnage of beets obtained fully warrants early planting, even 
though it becomes necessary to replant occasionally. In the interior valleys 
where warm weather begins at an early date, early planting is absolutely 
essential to insure well-established growth before the heat and dryness of late 
spring and summer descend upon the fields. 

In certain sections, especially in the Sacramento Valley and some of the 
central coast sections, it is possible to plant beets so early that a considerable 
percentage will throw up seed-stalks. If this seed formation progresses too 
far, the sugar content of the crop is reduced and the beets become too woody 
for profitable working. "Early planting," therefore, must be construed as 
meaning the planting of the seed as early as possible, while guarding against 
planting so early that seed production replaces satisfactory maturing. 

Cultivation. — Weeds should never be allowed to get the start 
of the young beets ; nor should the soil be allowed to lock them in 
a hard surface. For this reason cultivation should begin as soon 
as the rows can be seen. Very effective cultivators, or horse-hoes, 
have been designed by California mechanics, which make it possible 
to work two or four rows at once if the beets are in straight equi- 
distant rows. This cultivation, beginning thus early, must be con- 
tinued at frequent intervals, for the reasons already fully given in 
the chapter on cultivation. Cultivation is absolutely essential to a 
good beet; not only must moisture be conserved, but the lower 
strata must be kept reasonably loose so that the soil may be dis- 
placed by the expanding beet-root. This is done not by deep sum- 
mer cultivation, but by keeping a good surface mulch to prevent 
evaporation, and the lower soil will then keep itself in good condi- 
tion. All flattened, or knotty, or gnarly beets show that there has 
been slackness, either in proper depth, in preparation of the ground, 
or in lack of cultivation afterward, permitting deep drying out. 



GROWING SUGAR BEETS 155 

Beets which show signs of distress will be discarded or discounted 
at the factory. The beet must be symmetrical, smooth and fine — 
all of which are signs of thrift in a beet as they are in a well-bred 
animal. 

Thinning. — Excellence in beets is also dependent upon each 
having adequate soil-room and plant food. It is impossible to get 
proper spacing by any scheme of seed dropping. It is necessary to 
sow too thickly in order to get a uniform stand; the spacing of the 
beets must be done afterward. By using a narrow hoe crosswise 
to the rows, the plants can be quickly thinned to clumps or groups, 
from which all but the strongest plant are pulled by hand. Thin- 
ning should be begun when the seedlings are small — say from two 
to four leaves. It is easier to do it well at this stage, and it is 
vastly better for the beets which are to stand, for it does not dis- 
place the soil nor disturb their rooting, as when it is done too late. 
Beets should stand eight to ten inches apart in the row, according 
to the soil. Where the soil is very rich and the beets likely to over- 
grow the two-pound average, which is most acceptable to the fac- 
tory, they should be allowed to stand nearer in the row. After 
thinning, the surface cultivation must proceed for weed cutting and 
surface loosening until the beet leaves cover the ground. The field 
is then laid by until harvesting. 

Irrigation. — Irrigation is the surety of proper development of 
the beet, as of other plants, though a large part of the California 
product comes through by rainfall. The grower must follow the 
discussion of this subject in special publications and become wise 
also by experience and observation under his own local conditions. 
It is becoming more and more clearly demonstrated that the beet 
should be brought to the thinning stage by rainfall or by irrigation 
before planting, if possible; also that water should be handled pref- 
erably in furrows to avoid the ill effects upon the soil and the plant 
by surface flooding. Irrigation should be stopped a month or so 
before harvesting to favor maturity and development of a good 
sugar content. 

Harvesting — As the outer leaves of the beet turn yellow and 
drop to the ground, maturity arrives. It is usual for the factory 
to notify the grower when his crop is ready. The beet can stand 
long in the soil without losing sugar percentage, but the factory 
cannot use all the beets at the moment of their readiness, and, there- 
fore, some growers have to wait for delivery until the opening of 
the rainy season, and that is not pleasant or profitable. It is desir- 
able, therefore, that seeding should be done at different times, as 
each kind of land in the locality comes into condition, and thus pro- 
long both the harvesting season and the factory season. On this 
point local advice should be taken from the contracting purchaser. 

Beet harvesting is now done cheaply by means of implements 
and machines of California design and construction, which either 
loosen or completely dislodge the beet. Topping, or removing the 



156 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

leaves and all the green part of the root grown, is done with knives, 
though inventors are perhaps making some promising progress in 
machines for this work. 

Beet tops are good stock feed if not allowed to become moldy 
and are sold at $0.50 to $4 per acre, as determined by the factory 
weight of the beets delivered. But wherever possible the beets should 
be fed on the land and the manure returned to the soil, or fed on 
a feed-lot if the soil is liable to be injured by tramping during the 
rainy season. 

Yield. — Very large yields of sugar beets have been reported 
with perfect truth, and larger sugar percentages have been attained 
in California than anywhere else in the world, but average state- 
ments are a better guide than extremes. The statistics gathered by 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture show that the eleven factories 
operating in 1916 worked up 1,439,000 tons of beets which were 
harvested from 144,200 acres of land. The price for the beets was, 
on the average, $6.44 per ton, and the average yield was 10 tons 
per acre. The average gross return to the grower was, therefore, 
$64.40 per acre. The cost of production is variously estimated at 
from $40 to $50 per acre, leaving a profit of from $14 to $24 per 
acre. Of course, some make much more than the average. There 
is quite as large an opening for good farming in beet growing as 
in any other crop, and the beet seems to know as clearly when it is 
well off and gathers sweets like a bee. 

Beet Pulp for Stock Feed. — The use of beet pulp for stock feed- 
ing has increased rapidly during the last few years, and promises 
to be as popular here as in Europe. It is fed fresh and is put down 
in silos. It is very cheaply siloed, because it packs down readily 
and it seals itself up from contact with the air by the formation of 
a surface crust. The pulp is also being commercially dried and sold 
in large quantities to stock-feeders. There are, however, many 
economic questions concerning the cost of the pulp, either as it 
comes from the factory, or dried, or as silage which are not yet 
fully determined, and which it needs systematic experimentation fo 
demonstrate. 

Varieties. — Thus far California has relied chiefly upon Euro- 
pean beet seed. Recently a company in Idaho has brought into 
practice the exact methods of testing and selecting the "mother 
beets" for seed production which are practiced in France and Ger- 
many. By this means the sugar-contents have been increased and 
shape, thrift and other characters of the beet have been advanced. 
It is probable that CaHfornia will in due time develop local seed 
supplies of the highest quality, but efforts in that direction in this 
state have not yet succeeded in reaching considerable production. 

Of the varieties chiefly used at the present time by the Cali- 
fornia sugar factories the best information is to be had from the 
managers who furnish to growers tlie seed which in their experi- 



GROWING BEETS FOR STOCK 157 

ence yields the best results, and their contracts are conditioned upon 
the use of the seed they furnish. 

BEETS AS FOOD FOR STOCK. 

All that has been said about the fitness of California soils and 
climates to the growth of the sugar beet is also applicable to the 
growth of beets for stock food. Early plantings of beets furnish 
succulent food when the pastures yield but "dry feed," which is the 
local name for grasses and clovers which make rich hay as they 
stand in the field. Though this food is very nutritious, it is better 
fitted for fattening purposes than for maintaining the milk-flow, 
and for this reason it should be supplemented by succulent food. 
By later planting of beets good supplies can also be provided for 
the deficiency of pasture growth which occurs when the winter 
happens to be colder or drier than usual. Thus, by planting from 
February until June, or even later on moist bottom or irrigated land, 
the stock feeder can have beets for his animals the year round. 

Stock beets are also useful as a succulent food for poultry. 
By sowing in April or earlier, if local soil conditions admit, well- 
grown beets can be had for the fowls by August, when it is well- 
nigh impossible for them to find any wild verdure. They will help 
themselves to the roots just as they come from the field. 

Preparation of the land is the same for stock beets as for 
sugar beets. The plants must have wider spacing, both for the rows 
and for individual plants, according to the size of the variety grown. 
The long red mangel-wurzel, which frequently reaches a weight of 
seventy pounds, and should average half that or more, needs room. 
Three feet between the rows and two feet between the plants in 
the row is as little space as should be given. 

Growers of stock beets often sprout the seed before planting, 
and sow by hand, from five to eight pounds per acre, in a shallow 
furrow, following a line set by a "marker," and cover with a culti- 
vator or harrow, finally smoothing with a plank clod-crusher or 
"rubber." 

Summer cultivation determines the character of the crop as it 
does with sugar beets, and the best cultivators secure almost in- 
credible weights of beets from rich, moist soils. The crop often 
reaches twice that of sugar beets, and though the stock beets are 
inferior in nutritive contents, the greater crop and the greater ease 
with which large beets, growing a good part of their bulk above- 
ground, are gathered and handled are held to compensate for their 
less nutritive substance. 

Varieties. — Of the many cattle beets of Europe three have 
gained wide popularity in California: the Long Red Mangel, the 
Yellow Globe Mangel, and the Golden Tankard. 

Long Red Mangel. — This variety is the largest and produces 
the heaviest crops, and is the best generally preferred by dairymen 



158 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

and for hog feed, but requires a deep, strong soil to do well. A 
rich, sandy loam, a heavy black adobe or a yellow clay, will pro- 
duce great crops of Long Red Mangels. 

Yellow Globe Mangel. — This is medium in size, rutabaga 
shaped, more solid and less watery, and is the best beet for a light, 
shallow soil. All root crops, as stated already, require a deep, 
moist soil, and the richer the better. But Yellow Globe Mangels 
are recommended on a light or gravelly soil, but in such case a lib- 
eral use should be made of old and well-rotted barn-yard manure, 
well worked into the soil. 

Yellozu Tankard Mangel. — This is also called "Golden Tank- 
ard." It is one of the most famous English varieties. It is very 
neat and symmetrical in form — cylindrical, narrowing abruptly at 
both ends. It has yellow flesh throughout. It reaches large size, 
but can be grown more thickly than the Long Red. 

These Yellow Mangels have gained rapidly in popularity dur- 
ing the last few years : first in southern California and now in the 
north as well. They are better suited for calcareous soils, which are 
very prevalent in California, and they endure drought better than 
the Lonff Red. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
THE CABBAGE FAMILY. 

Common Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea capitata. 
French, chou cabus, chou pomme; German, kopfkohl, kraut; Dutch, slut- 
kool ; Danish, hoved kaal ; Italian, cavolo cappuccio ; Spanish, col repoUo ; Por- 
tuguese, couve repolho. 

Savoy Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea hullata. 
French, chou de Milan ; German, Savoyerkohl ; Dutch, savooikool ; Italian, 
cavolo de Milano; Spanish, col de Milan; Portuguese, saboia. 
Brussels Sprouts. — Idem. 
French, chou de Bruxelles ; German, Briisseler sprossen-wirsing ; Dutch, 
spruitkool; Danish, rosenkaal; Italian, cavolo a germoglio. 
Cauliflower. — Brassica oleracea botrytis. 
French, chou-fleur ; German, blumenkohl ; Dutch, bloemkool ; Italian, cavol- 
flore ; Spanish, coliflor ; Portuguese, couve-flor. 
Broccoli. — Idem. 
French, choux brocolis, chou-fleur d'hiver ; German, spargelkohl ; Danish, 
asparges kaal; Italian, cavol broccolo; Spanish, broculi. 

Borecole or Kale. — Brassica oleracea acephala. 
French, choux verts ; German, winterkohl ; Dutch, boerenkool ; Italian, 
cavolo verde; Spanish, coles sin cogollo. 
Collards . — Idem . 
Jersey Kale; Thousand Headed Cabbage or Oregon Kale; also Marrow 
Kale (chou moellier) — grown for livestock and poultry. 

Other species of brassica, grown for fleshy stems or roots, rather than for 
esculent foliage, will be classed as "turnips" in a subsequent chapter. 

California has a vast capacity as a supply region for esculents 
of the cabbage family. The climate favors production and ship- 
ment at a time when the eastern markets have only stored cabbage, 
and California cauliflower is harvested in splendid size and quality 
all through the winter months, so that the crop is disposed of be- 
fore the eastern grower can trust his small plants to the open air. 
Some years when there have been low freight rates, or a partial 
failure in eastern production, there have been very large shipments 
in direct competition with the eastern grown cabbage, in the early 
autumn, and money has been made in selling California cabbage, 
not as an early vegetable, but at prices which sauerkraut factories 
were willing to pay. The eastern production has, however, been 
more intelligently carried on during recent years, and California 
producers have less opportunity in the farther east. In the great 
central region of the country, however, California vegetable ship- 
pers find a large market, and growing is done on a considerable 
scale, but the aggregate is only a small fraction of what the state 
could easily produce. 

The largest cabbage producing regions are the sandy loam up- 
lands bordering San Francisco on the south, the lowlands of Santa 

[159] 



160 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Clara county, the reclaimed islands of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin rivers, and the valleys of southern California, both on the 
coast and in the interior. The last named are the largest produc- 
ing districts for overland shipment, although the central parts of 
the state often export largely. Southern California ships usually 
about 1500 carloads of cabbage, chiefly from March to June, and 
1000 carloads of cauliflower, chiefly from November to April. 

Cabbage is produced both in large areas wholly given to the 
plant and by planting between young fruit trees, both in rainfall 
and irrigated districts. As the cabbage is very largely a winter 
crop in California, the water which it requires comes free from the 
clouds or at low rates from the irrigating ditches. The chief objec- 
tion to the crop is the great fluctuation in value from year to year. 
It is hardly worth while at $15 per ton, and very profitable at $30 
to $40 per ton, and the planting is large or small, according to the 
preceding year's experience in selling, and this, of course, largely 
influences the price of the new crop. An average crop of cabbage 
would be, perhaps, four tons to the acre and the average value $20 
per ton or $80 gross value per acre. The cost at current rates for 
labor would be about $30 per acre. 

The cabbage crop is chiefly grown for winter and spring gath- 
ering. Interior southern situations produce heads ready for ship- 
ping as early as February, and the shipment continues, including 
the later coast regions in southern and central California, until April 
or later. Thus California is able to reach the markets at the East 
when the storage houses of eastern regions are emptied of cabbage 
and the sauerkraut barrels run low and to receive whatever high 
prices may be available at that time of the year. 

California cauliflower is chiefly shipped to distant markets from 
November to February — the length of the season being determined 
by the character of the rainy season, which if very wet may put 
the late crop out of shipping condition ; also by the supplies avail- 
able from Florida, etc. 

Although the state is so well suited to produce all the plants of 
the cabbage family, the common cabbage is the only one which is 
widely grown by small growers for home supplies. It is the hardi- 
est of the group under neglect or drought, it is true, but there is 
not so much difference as some imagine. The cauliflower has, for 
instance, the reputation of being hard to grow, but there is really 
no difficulty about it if proper effort is made, as will be described 
later. 

THE CABBAGE. 

The cabbage can be grown everywhere in California by select- 
ing that season of the year which furnishes the adequate moisture 
and moderate temperature which best suits its nature. These re- 
quirements adapt it well to winter growth generally in California 
except in the frostiest places, and give the plant a longer season 
and a greater attainment in weight in regions of rich soils open to 








Univ. of Cal E\penin ni ^i 

Lettuce plants set at edge ot mmsture after running-in water; also fulh 
headed lettuce right to gather. — Page 203. 



GROWING CABBAGE IN CALIFORNIA 161 

coast influences. It does not resent fogs and cold winds, and thrives 
directly upon the coast as well as in coast valleys. In the interior 
it reaches its best estate on bottom lands, but will succeed on plains 
and uplands with enough moisture by irrigation to supplement the 
rainfall, but without irrigation it is often disappointing even though 
it be started early enough. Cabbage is sometimes a very profitable 
winter crop in young orchards in southern California. 

Soil. — The cabbage does well on heavy soil, and it does not 
object to alkali — if it is not too strong. It delights in copious treat- 
ment with stable manures. For quick fall growth, for early win- 
ter maturity, such soil, if moist enough by rainfall or irrigation, 
will bring it along rapidly while the autumn heat is ample. For 
later fall planting to reach early spring maturity, a warmer, lighter, 
well-drained soil or a raised bed will push full growth in a month 
or six weeks less time than heavy soil in a rainy region, which is 
likely to be cold and water-soaked. But the cabbage sometimes 
repays great kindness by growth to bursting or cracking of the head. 
Care should be had against overgrowth for this reason. Cracking 
can be prevented by giving heads which threaten it a pull, or a 
cut through the roots with a spade, so as to lessen its riotous living 
by partial arrest of its supplies. 

Aside from consideration of rapid development, however, it 
should be said that the cabbage will stand a good deal of winter 
water and will even go through a period of saturated soil and 
standing water, making good heads when better growing conditions 
follow. 

The Time to Plant. — These points on soil conditions also sug- 
gest different times of planting in different localities, according to 
what may be reasonably anticipated in the way of heat and moist- 
ure. Even in the same locality there will also be different dates of 
suitability, according to the character of the current season. The 
best practice is to have plants available in different seed beds and 
to plant out in succession the thriftiest plants at hand at such times 
as the season may show fitness. Planting by the calendar is not 
usually intelligent practice in California, as has been aleady stated. 

Growing Plants. — It is wise in most parts of California to start 
plants in a seed-bed from August to October, irrigating the ground 
well to guard against drying out on land not naturally moist. In 
the warmer coast regions good plants can be grown at this time of 
the year in the open ground. Field growth of cabbage plants with 
irrigation in southern California is described in this way : 

The land is furrowed out at various widths, depending on whether the 
wheel hoe or horse cuhivator is used in the after-cultivating, and after the 
furrows have been made a light planker is drawn across the field lengthwise 
over the ridges, which makes a fine uniform surface on which to sow the seed. 
This is done with a seed drill, and a row is made on each side of the ridge, 
thus making a double row with a furrow on each side for irrigation. Unless 
the land is very moist when the seed is sown, water is turned into the furrows 
at once and the moisture rises by capillarity to the top of the ridge, thus giving 



162 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the seed a chance to germmate at once. As with lettuce, if the seed is too 
thickly sown it is thinned out so that the plants will grow stocky. As soon 
as the plants are large enough they are transplanted into the open field, which 
has been prepared as for the seed rows, except that the rows are always wide 
enough for horse cultivation and only one row is set on the edge of the furrow. 

In the interior, where temperature extremes are liable to be 
greater, a cold frame, or covered seed-bed, may be used to protect 
the young plants against hot, dry winds. In small garden practice 
the use of a seed-box is often handier. Plants should be given 
space enough to grow thriftily and should be transplanted to the 
field when conditions are right for planting out in the locality. 

Plants started in August and September may be planted in the 
field as soon as they are strong enough, when an early winter crop 
is expected, for they will be headed up well from January to March. 
Where this is not favored by the local climate, it is still advisable to 
have early grown plants, and in garden practice they can be several 
times transplanted and thus kept small and stocky for planting out 
when the soil and weather are right for it. Where the early winter 
is apt to have quite severe frosts, plants started in the fall in the 
open air can be transplanted to cold frames until this danger is past. 

For late winter and spring planting, plants may be started later, 
say in January, but then in some places the hot-bed, or other form 
of gentle bottom heat described in the chapter on propagation, is 
desirable. Care must, however, always be taken not to use too high 
heat with cabbage plants, and for usual California conditions a seed- 
bed, with the soil made light enough for good drainage, and with 
protection from cold winds as afforded by a fence or building, is 
usually coddling enough for cabbages. If, however, the plants are 
grown with heat they should be first transplanted to a cold frame, 
or a protected bed, for hardening before they are taken to open 
ground. 

Preparation of Cabbage Ground. — Aside from generous ma- 
nuring; for it is hard to make ground too rich for the cabbage, a 
good, deep working of the soil will show itself in the crop. For 
fall planting it is not desirable to give the surface as fine a polish 
as is necessary for seed sowing, because it will be all the more liable 
to puddle and crust with the rains. If the plant is well firmed in 
fine soil, it will take hold well and the interspaces will be more 
receptive if left a little open. Subsequent cultivation will fine it 
sufficiently. 

In special fertilizing for cabbage in addition to free use of 
farm manure, worn soils can be enriched with 400 to 500 lbs. of 
superphosphate and 200 lbs. of kainit, harrowed in before planting, 
and from 200 to 400 lbs. nitrate of soda is given divided into two 
to three applications, according to quantity allowed. If as much as 
4 cwt. of nitrate of soda is given to the acre, the first portion may 
be applied when it is noticed the plants are beginnning to catch on, 
the next a month after, and the last dressing three weeks later. This 
usually produces a marked effect on the crops. 



PLANTING AND IRRIGATING CABBAGE 163 

Planting Out. — Cabbages are usually grown in the field in rows 
two and a half to three feet apart; laid out with a marker, the 
plants being distanced about fifteen inches in the rows. Planting is 
done with a dibble, and a man can plant out four to eight thousand 
a day, according to his expertness, if he has a boy to drop plants 
for him. The earth should be pressed firmly about the roots with 
the dibble. 

Planting with a trowel can be very rapidly done in this way. 
Get a new mason's trowel about six inches wide and twelve inches 
long coming to a point. Cut ofif one or two inches of the point, 
making it round on the grindstone. Put the trowel down in the 
soil the whole length, pull it over toward you, put in the plant, take 
out the trowel, then step on the soil near the plant to make it firm. 

If the seed-bed is sandy enough and is allowed to become a 
little dry, the plants can be lifted readily without losing roots. Large 
bunches of plants when taken to the field should be protected from 
sun and wind by a wet sack, and dropping should not go far ahead 
of the planting. 

Early planting in anticipation of rains may be surer to hold on 
if a little water is used in planting if the ground is inclined to be 
dry. On irrigated ground, which is given a good soaking before 
plowing for fall planting, this may not be necessary, but subsequent 
irrigation must be given in time if rains are delayed, for the plants 
must not be allowed to stop growing. 

Planting out on irrigated ground after the land has been pre- 
pared as just described for field growing of plants, can be done in 
this way : 

Have plants of good size and two men to the row; one with a long- 
handled spade to open a place along the edge of the furrow by inserting the 
spade at an angle of about 45 degrees and without withdrawing it, but simply 
raising it up until the other man, who carried the plants in a pail which had 
a little water in the bottom, could slip a plant under the spade, when by a 
deft, quick movement the spade could be withdrawn and the soil allowed to 
fall upon the roots, when the man with the spade was careful to step on the 
plant just over the roots and thus firm the earth. By having the proper force 
of men employed to get the plants from the seed bed to the field, so that the 
men planting could proceed without hindrance, it is astonishing how rapidly 
the plants can be set ; and by choosing the after part of the day and turning 
the water in right after each row was planted, the plants receive scarcely any 
check by removal. 

Fall planting for irrigation is described by D. F. Reichard in the 
California Cultivator as follows : 

The main plantings of cabbage and cauliflower seed should be made dur- 
ing September, starting the plants in beds or in rows where they can get the 
best care. When the plants are six to eight weeks old set out where they are 
to mature. Prepare the ground by working it not less than a foot deep, hav- 
ing it thoroughly soaked beforehand. After the land is pulverized and leveled, 
furrow out, for cabbage, eight inches and for cauliflower ten to twelve inches 
deep, setting the plants on one side of the furrow near the bottom. Then run 
water down the furrow as soon as the row is set, allowing the water to come 
up to the plant and as the plants grow gradually work the soil into the furrows 
until they become ridges. 



164 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Field planting by machinery as practiced to some extent in the 
eastern states, is not prevalent in California. 

Cultivation. — Cabbages must be kept well cultivated to reach 
their best estate. Early cabbages will head in two and a half to 
four months, according to weather and soil conditions, and size will 
depend much upon cultivation in connection with soil richness and 
adequate moisture. Hardly any plant delights more in soil stirring. 
Rapid growth during the winter also gives the plant the advantage 
over the hce or aphis, which sap the life of unthrifty plants, and is 
worse on late-planted cabbages because of the dry, hot weather they 
are likely to encounter. 

Cabbage Worm and Louse. — These two pests are the bane of 
the cabbage grower. For the cabbage worm take a teaspoonful of 
Paris green and a pound of bran stirred into a gallon of water and 
the moist bran is then sprinkled over the cabbages. A- cheaper 
treatment is two pounds of lead arsenate powder (or four pounds 
of the paste form) to fifty gallons of water — to be sprayed on the 
plants. To hit the louse also, add four ounces of tobacco extract 
(40 per cent) for each fifty gallons. The plants ought to be watched 
and sprayed again later, for both these pests are liable to keep com- 
ing. As for poisoning the cabbage with the arsenate, a late govern- 
ment report says that one must eat twenty-eight heads of cabbage 
at once to get poison enough to make him sick. Still, outer leaves 
should be removed before cooking. We would not use the tobacco 
spray on heads nearly ready. A good hard rain or a stiff spray with 
cold water will dislodge most of the lice if the treatment is given 
before they become too abundant. 

Harvesting. — The cabbage field is usually cut over for a winter 
shipment three times in about six weeks, and then the ground is 
cleared up and put in shape for a summer crop. 

Cabbage for Stock Feed. — In field growth of cabbage all im- 
perfect heads are used for cow feed and if fed right after milking 
and not in too large quantities, are said not to taint the milk. They 
should be fed in connection with some dry feed. Very often cabbage 
can be grown to advantage especially for cow feed. Planted out in 
February or March they would be fit to use by the latter part of 
June, just about the time that the grass gets dry and cows want 
something juicy to keep up the flow of milk. In their use, however, 
care must be taken to strip them of any decaying leaves, as nothing 
will impart a bad taste to milk and butter quicker than the use of 
decaying vegetable matter of any kind. On moist land late cabbages 
are considerably grown for poultry and can be pulled for them all 
through the dry season. 

Varieties of the Cabbage. — Of the many varieties of cabbage 
only a few are largely grown in California. 

Early Jersey Wakefield is the earliest cabbage and is widely 
popular. It makes up in earliness for any lack in size. Heads 
pyramidal in shape having blunted or rounded peak. 



SAVOY CABBAGE AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS 165 

Early Spring: this is the local name of a variety grown by 
market gardeners around San Francisco instead of Early Jersey 
Wakefield, as it makes a little larger head. 

Early Winningstadt : follows Jersey Wakefield in maturity; 
pointed shape ; head compact, firm and heavy. Very popular in 
southern California, heading uniformly in the hottest weather. 

All-Head Early : the earliest of the large, flat varieties and the 
largest, uniform growth and good for a long season. 

Mammoth Drumhead : head thick and broad, quite flat on top ; 
a standard late variety reaching the largest size. 

Cannon Ball : said to be earliest to mature, ten days ahead of 
Winningstadt; a selection from Danish Ball Head and a better 
yielder, with a head weighing six or eight pounds ; should be planted 
at fourteen to sixteen inches or the heads may be too large. 

Copenhagen Market : good for home garden ; fine round head ; 
matures late. 

Flat Dutch : very widely grown as a late cabbage ; head large, 
round and solid, flat on top; very sure header and good keeper. 

Holland or Danish Ball-Head : very late, not large but very 
firm and round head, stands in the field a long time ; popular for 
eastern shipment and for winter keeping. 

Surehead : large, round, flattened heads of good texture ; good 
for shipping; a long keeper, good for a standard crop. 

All Seasons or Succession : a large cabbage, rather late in 
maturing; has large foliage, which protects the head from the ex- 
treme heat of summer. 

THE SAVOY CABBAGE. 

The distinguishing characteristics of the Savoy varieties is their 
crimped leaves. They are held to be somewhat milder in flavor 
than the common cabbage. Their culture is precisely the same as 
of the common cabbage. They are very little grown in California, 
but are desirable in giving variety to the home garden supply, and 
sometimes profitable in local markets. The American Drumhead 
Savoy is a good variety. 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 

Brussels sprouts require considerably longer to reach maturity 
than the cabbage, as the little rosettes have to develop at the bases 
of the leaves after the latter are grown. The sprouts appear first 
at the lower part of the stem and appear later above, thus giving 
many cuttings from the same stems. The crown of leaves at the 
top should not be removed until the stem has done its work. In 
California the sprouts are taken from the stems in the places where 
they grow, as our winter does not require taking up the plants and 
storing them under protection for the winter "sprouting." This, of 
course, is a great advantage. 



166 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The plants are quite hardy and in most parts of CaHfornia bring 
their crop in the winter from plants set out in succession during the 
previous spring and summer. They do best in the cool, summer 
climate of the coast. Wherever grown they must have abundant 
moisture all summer. The culture is the same as for cabbage except 
as to their longer season of growth, which has been noted. The 
"Improved Half-Dwarf" is the variety mostly grown. 

CAULIFLOWER. 

The cauliflower is one of the grandest vegetables in California. 
It attains large size and superb quality, but it is not universally 
grown, as is the cabbage, because it is rather more tender and exact- 
ing and more rebellious under neglect or deprivation. While it is 
perfectly simple and easy for a person with any joy and zeal in gar- 
dening to grow a grand cauliflower, the lack of these qualities will 
yield distressing failures. He may busy himself with a fair sort of 
cabbages, but his cauliflowers will point gaunt fingers at him instead 
of nestling down in tight masses of snowy curds, as if to shame him 
for his ill-treatment of them. For this reason cabbages are seen 
everywhere and cauliflowers seldom, except in the market gardens 
or in the fields where grown for distant shipment — the product 
being half as large of cauliflower as of cabbage. The largest cauli- 
flower producer of California, J. N. Teague of southern California, 
grows regularly 160 acres a year and ships over one hundred car- 
loads from his own fields. He arranges to grow early, middle and 
late varieties and gives the trade almost a continuous supply. 

The growth of the cauliflower is in the main the same as the 
cabbage except that a little higher heat and greater protection are 
needed for the young plants and a Httle more diHgent cultivation 
and faithful attention to moisture supply for the later growth. The 
writer's observation is that most cases of failure with cauHflowers 
are attributable to delay in starting the plants and planting out too 
late, and to insufficient or intermittent moisture supply. Summer 
heading of cauliflower is difficult unless the plants are started in the 
seed-beds in the winter and planted out early in the spring, for a' 
spring start from the seed is apt to amount to little. Winter head- 
ing is surer if the plants are in the seed-beds by June and in ground, 
properly irrigated and worked, in August. Besides the error of 
starting at wrong times, many plantings go wrong toward the end 
of their course, through lack of work and water on the home stretch. 
In the milder regions it is possible to start so early that less atten- 
tion, perhaps, has to be given to watering, but where the local climate 
requires spring planting the reason for failure is generally to be seen 
in the hard, dry ground on which the plants strive in vain to answer 
the grower's expectations. 

Shipping Requirements. — The following account of selecting 
cauliflowers for shipment in a San Francisco warehouse gives some 
good hints of requirements : 



CALIFORNIA CAULIFLOWER GROWING 167 

With a long knife, he would chop off the leaf ends within about two 
inches of the head. If he couldn't see the head then without pulling the 
leaves away it passed as "white and solid" for the incurving leaves have 
protected it from the sun. If it were too old it would have spread out and 
opened the leaves apart. But a large percentage could be seen and then a 
quick look decided whether the head would go into the pile to be sold at 
about 25 cents per dozen to peddlers for immediate consumption in the city, 
or whether he would toss it to the representative of the shipping company 
who was packing the acceptable cauliflower in "pony" crates. Many heads 
were soft, would spread apart on pressure with the fingers, many were yel- 
lowed, many covered with dust blown probably from the road. These could 
not be shipped. 

When to Cut Cauliflozver. — According to his own confession, 
it took R. M. Plympton, of Arroyo Gra-nde, a long time to learn to 
cut the cauliflower at the right stage. Sometimes it looks all right 
when still immature. In such cases, a delay of three or four days 
greatly increases the weight and price without hurting the quality. 
When such heads are found in the regular semi-weekly picking, the 
leaves are broken over them so they will not sunburn, or get dirty, 
or turn yellow, and so the rain will be kept off. Too much rain is 
likely to hurt the heads. The cauliflower is ready to cut when the 
sections of a head spread out just enough to show very slightly the 
lines of separation between them. Plenty of big leaves are left 
around each head until they are trimmed at the house. If the 
cauliflower is to go a long distance, more leaves are left on to pro- 
tect the heads from dirt and injury. 

Vegetable crates 20x22x24 inches are packed with about three 
dozen heads per crate, weighing 110 to 125 pounds — large and small 
being packed together to economize space. Grading for size is also 
practiced, however, by some growers. 

Soil. — Like the cabbage, the cauliflower likes good, rich soil 
and plenty of water; coarse, long manure answers the purpose of a 
fertilizer very well if the soil is heavy; if applied on the surface, 
either on light or heavy soil, it keeps the ground loose and the water 
soaks through, and thus the soil is always moist. 

Situation. — The cauliflower is less hardy than the cabbage, and 
where there is a choice of situations in the garden, it should be 
given, for winter growing, the one which is warmer and more pro- 
tected. It also resents heat which a cabbage will endure, and for 
summer growing will be benefited by partial shade. 

Growing Plants. — There is a wide difference in practice in 
different regions. On irrigated ground in the foothills seed is sown 
in the open ground in June or July, by making the soil as fine as 
possible ; sow the seeds and cover with a slight coat of well-rotted 
manure ; keep well wet down. This prevents drying out and harden- 
ing of the ground and the plants come along finely. Similar prac- 
tice is followed in regions of little frost in other parts of the state 
at different times from July to September, for winter cutting. As 
eastern shipments of cauliflower continue from December through 
the winter, early growth of plants is necessary, and the fall weather 



168 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

is SO warm that the seed-bed only needs a little sunshading and 
ample moisture. 

In colder parts of the state, as for example in small valleys 
liable to sharp frosts, some seasons favor fall-grown plants, others 
do not, and though it is always advisable to have them for small 
plantings by those who delight in taking the chances on early things, 
January or February planting in a hot-bed for spring and summer 
growth must be the main practice. Hot-bed plants should be grown 
at rather a low temperature and transplanted to a cold frame or 
other place under some cover to harden before planting out. Young 
plants must not be so wet as to "damp-off" and they should not be 
huddled together as closely as cabbages may be. 

After-treatment. — Field growth of cauliflower is like that of 
cabbage, though for winter growth one must be sure of a little 
milder exposure. Planting out during the winter must be done with 
due regard to the fact that the cauliflower is a more tender plant, 
and extra care must be had to plant when the soil is in proper con- 
dition of warmth and moisture. Fall planting requires due moist- 
ure and the assurance of it is to push the plant along rapidly. 

Garden Practice. — Amateurs who have become discouraged 
over growing cauliflower are advised to try the method of the late 
Ira W. Adams, of Potter valley, being sure they are faithful in all 
points before they conclude that this vegetable must be bought, not 
grown. Mr. Adams' experience was in a small valley where frosts 
are rather sharp and where fall planting is seldom satisfactory. 

About the middle of February throw into a snug heap a lot of fresh 
horse manure mixed with short straw and leaves. After standing a few 
days to heat, throw it over and let it remain a day or two; then make it into 
a compact heap (on the south side of the barn), some three or four feet in 
depth and about twice the surface required for the seed-bed. Tread it down 
well. On this, place three or four inches of good soil made light and rich 
with fine, well-rotted manure ; some leaf mold, sand, and a very little ashes 
is a very valuable addition. Do not sift the dirt nor have it too fine. This 
seed-bed must be protected from frost and cold rain, as well as cold days 
and nights, by a cover of glass or muslin ; muslin answers every purpose, 
is cheaper, easier handled, and does not draw the plants up weak and spin- 
dling as glass often does. 

From time to time, if the weather continues cold, throw around the 
seed-bed fresh horse manure sometimes to the depth of four feet or more, 
leaving only the front side exposed to the sun. The heat generated and 
escaping from this manure serves to keep the temperature around the bed 
several degrees higher than it would have otherwise been. When the plants 
are two or three inches high, transplant to another rich bed without any 
bottom heat, set the plants three inches apart and keep covered as little as 
possible in order to harden them. Be sure to keep both seed-beds always 
well moistened (not wet), with lukewarm water. A little weak manure 
water occasionally is very beneficial. 

When the plants are six or seven inches high, transplant to open ground 
on a cloudy day if possible, or just at night, giving each plant a cup of 
water. The ground should be prepared in the best possible manner and made 
very rich with manure thoroughly decomposed. Horse, cow, hog, and chicken 
manure mixed as good as any. Put the plants three feet (or nearly so) 
apart, to give plenty of room for cultivation, which should be done once a 



GARDEN GROWTH OF CAULIFLOWER 169 

week at least, twice is better, and hoe them often — the more the better, espe- 
cially early in the morning when the ground is wet with dew. Cauliflower 
must never stop growing or the ground get dry ; they mtcst have an abun- 
dance of moisture. Run the water down the rows every night if the weather 
is pretty hot; however, cauliflower succeeds best if fully matured before hot 
weather sets in, which generally comes early in June. 

When they commence to head, gather the leaves together and tie loosely 
over the heads ; this greatly facihtates blanching, and protects them from 
getting brown and bitter from the effects of the hot sun. They should be 
examined often and cut while the head is close and compact, as, after the 
head opens, it separates into branches, gets coarse, rough, fibrous, strong 
flavored and consequently almost if not wholly worthless. 

A cauliflower would be an ungrateful thing if it did not grow 
with Mr. Adams' treatment. But it will grow and grow immensely. 
Fortunately, it is not necessary in all places to do quite so much 
work, or field growth for export would languish. If the reader will 
discern the conditions which Mr. Adams secures he will be profited, 
for they underlie the success of the plant in all situations. Break- 
ing the tall leaves so that they will fall inward and protect the form- 
ing head is preferred to tying up, by some growers. This should be 
done as the head begins to form. The cauliflower must be cut for 
use or sale before the head begins to spread ; it must be white and 
compact or it is worthless. 

Inter-Culture zvith Caiiliflozver. — Either with cabbage or cauli- 
flower some inter-cropping could be done in the irrigated garden if 
the fullest use of the space must be made. In early spring planting, 
lettuce plants grown in a seed-bed can be set between cauliflowers 
at the same time of setting out the plants. As soon as the lettuce is 
ready to cut, plant some variety of early beans close to the lettuce, 
and by the time the lettuce is cut the beans are up, and by this time 
the cauliflower is ready to cut. Pull the stumps as the cauliflower 
is cut and this gives the ground to the coming crop of beans. Thus 
three crops can be raised on the same ground the same season. This 
cropping can only be done on a summer crop of cauliflower. For 
winter cauliflower, set Hanson's lettuce between each plant, and in 
this way have early lettuce when lettuce is scarce. Other combina- 
tions and successions will readily suggest themselves. 

Varieties of Cauliflower. — Several varieties are popular in this 
state : 

Early Snowball : early and a sure header ; large, white, and 
fine ; robust ; counted the best all-round variety. 

California Wonder: comes into market after the Early Snow- 
ball, producing much larger heads, and of the finest quality. It has 
been extensively grown for eastern market. 

California Pearl : held to be specially suited to semi-tropical 
climates and for shipment because of full leaf-cover of the head. 

Dry Weather: claimed particular endurance of heat and 
drouth ; heads large as Snowball and nearly as early. 

California Mammoth : of local origin, very large, commended 
for local use only. 



170 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Extra Early Paris : head medium size ; compact ; stem short ; 
hardy and rather easy to grow. 

Extra Early Erfurt : very early, small leaves ; solid, fine quality. 

Autumn Giant: large, white, firm, and solid; keeps condition 
well. 

Large Algiers: fine for late variety; especially popular in 
southern California. 

Lenormand's Short Stemmed: large, fine, and compact; stocky 
growth ; heads late and protects itself well with foliage. 

Nonpareil or Half-Early Paris : midseason variety of good 
standing. 

BROCCOLI. 

This is another variety of the same botanical species as the 
cauliflower. It is hardier and of slower growth, but is smaller in 
the head than cauliflower and counted less desirable otherwise. It 
is grown to a very slight extent, and cuts very little figure in Cali- 
fornia. It is grown in the same ways as the cauliflower but it takes 
longer to reach maturity. Those who fail with cauliflower might 
do well with broccoli, which is less exacting. 

Mr. Albert F. Etter, of Briceland, Humboldt county, exalts 
broccoli as not only equal to cauliflower but better adapted to con- 
ditions in many places in California. It is slower in heading, but 
some varieties of broccoli come in near to the late cauliflowers. 
Broccoli should not be sown too early, nor should it be forced along 
until the moist air of autumn comes with the rains. Then it will 
advance splendidly and good full heads can be had from Christmas 
until February, A temperature as low as 17 degrees will not hurt 
them much, and not at all if the leaves are tied up over the de- 
veloping head. Broccoli will make a good fall and winter growth 
on land which is rather poor, if a moderate amount of manure is 
spread around the plants at the beginning of the rainy season. 

The best varieties are Large or Mammoth White and Purple 
Cape. 

BORECOLE OF KALE. 

This term covers the non-heading cabbages, with a wonderful 
variety and form and foliage, and a record divided between use and 
ornament. There is a host of varieties, some of which are grown 
for the tender shoots : others for foliage. The edible sorts are 
very little grown in California; those used for garnishment are 
more frequently seen. The two varieties most known are the Tall 
Green Curled or Scotch and the Dwarf Curled or German Greens. 
The plants are very hardy and are winter-grown. 

TALL GROWING COLLARDS. 

The Jersey Kale or Tree Cabbage is quite widely distributed 
and has won high favor as food for cows and poultry. It is peren- 



KALE AND CABBAGE FOR STOCK 171 

nial in the coast regions of the central and southern parts of the 
state, and endures defoHating very well. It is less thrifty in the 
interior heat and drought. 

The Oregon Kale is an old European collard, sometimes called 
Thousand Headed Cabbage. It belongs to the same class as Jersey 
Kale, but has thinner stems and is, therefore, more easily handled 
with mowing or corn-cutting machinery. It was introduced in the 
Willamette valley, Oregon, more than a third of a century ago, but 
only recently has its value been recognized as a winter feed for 
stock and largely grown. It endures local freezing and is hauled 
from the fields as needed for feeding. The plants are grown in 
field drills and transplanted in May to the land to be covered with 
it, the plants being set in every third furrow as the field is plowed 
and covered in with the next furrow, the ground being afterwards 
rolled to compact the dirt around the roots. Planting with a ma- 
chine on land previously plowed and harrowed is also practiced. 
Kale may also be grown in the way already described for field 
growth of cabbage except that the plants should be given rather 
more room. In California the plant is likely to be of value for stock 
feeding by fall planting and winter growth as well as by summer 
growth to stand for winter use as in Oregon. In fact, winter growth 
for summer feeding may also be practicable in California, especially 
near the coast. As with other members of the cabbage family, dairy 
cows should be fed kale just after milking to avoid risk of tainting 
the milk. 

Marrow kale or cabbage resembles the foregoing when young, 
but afterwards the stalk enlarges until several inches in diameter. 
The pith or marrow often cracks open. It has attracted some atten- 
tion in the northern coast district for cow feeding. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
THE CARROT, PARSNIP AND SALSIFY. 

Carrot. — Daucus carota. 
French, carotte ; German, mohre, gelbriibe ; Dutch, wortel ; Italian, 
carota; Spanish, zanahoria; Portuguese, cenoura. 

Parsnip. — Pastinaca sativa. 
French, panais ; German, pastinake; Dutch, pastinaak ; Danish, pastinak; 
Italian, pastinaca; Spanish, chirivia; Portuguese, pastinaga. 

Salsify. — Tragopogong porrifolius. 
French, salsifis ; German, haferworzel ; Flemish, haverwortel ; Danish, 
havrerod ; Italian, barba di becco ; Spanish, salsifi bianco ; Portuguese, cercifi. 

The carrot is a very popular root in California, and is grown 
in all parts of the state, both for the table and for stock feeding. 
It is perfectly hardy in all temperatures which come to California 
valleys and foothills. It is patient during drought and proceeds 
quickly with its growth with renewed moisture, which is a very 
valuable characteristic in growing the carrot for stock feeding, but 
table carrots should not be subjected to this ordeal, but should be 
pushed with adequate moisture quickly from the seed to size to 
secure the desired tenderness and mild flavor. To attain the coveted 
weight for stock feeding, however, it is quite an advantage to have 
the rain beyond the dry season, as well as before it, because early 
sowing in cold, wet ground does not suit the plant and late sowing 
does not give the plant time enough except on irrigated land, to do 
its best in size before the dry season checks its growth. By proper 
practice, then, it is possible to produce great crops of carrots in the 
drier parts of the state, as well as in the moister lands and regions. 

Soil and Tillage. — The requirements of the carrot so closely 
resemble that of the beet that the reader is referred to the sugges- 
tions for culture already given for the beet. The carrot has the 
same liking for a light, warm soil, and the same reasons exist for 
a deep and thorough preparation of the soil ; for, though the carrot, 
if the seed is sown after the chill and surplus water have gone out 
of a heavy soil, will do very well if well cultivated, it produces the 
largest and most shapely roots when it can deeply penetrate and 
easily displace the soil in its expansion. Carrot ground should, 
then, receive early working to receive the rains, and be plowed again 
and well loosened up and fined before the seed is sown. 

Sowing Carrot Seed. — It is very necessary that the soil should 
be in good condition. Sowing in late summer or early fall on moist 
or irrigated ground is practicable, and so is sowing immediately 
after the early fall rains have moistened the soil sufficiently to pre- 
vent drying out. Plants from October sowing are ready for pulling 

[172] ' j ^ 



CARROTS IN CALIFORNIA 173 

from March onward, but if the place is quite frosty and the soil 
apt to be water-soaked, spring planting is better. For this reason, 
as already stated, some prefer to bridge the dry season, sowing in 
March or even in April, so that the young plant may have the best 
conditions at the start. As it gets age it becomes hardier and can 
be taken from the ground in good condition and maximum size all 
during the following winter. Late sowing is also advocated because 
of the opportunity to kill weeds by plowing in the winter growth 
before seeding. This practice is generally approved in the coast 
regions of the northern part of the state. On the other hand, in 
southern California, and in most parts of the San Joaquin and Sac- 
ramento valleys, on the lighter soils especially, a start from the 
seed in December or January, when weather and soil favor it, 
gives the plant a chance to root well before the dry season and then 
it is in much better condition to stand heat and drought than if 
younger. Both practices are rational and each is adapted to its own 
set of conditions. 

Carrot seed must be fresh. It is small, rather difficult to handle 
evenly, and requires a shallow covering of earth. It is more difficult 
to get a good stand of carrots than of beets, but care will insure it 
with good seed. Distribution is facilitated by mixing the seed 
thoroughly with a certain amount of moist sand, and if the mixture 
is kept warm and moist the seed may be allowed to sprout slightly 
before sowing but not too far. The seed must be placed in moist 
ground, and half an inch is covering enough except in light soils 
likely to dry down. The seed should be pressed down well or the 
soil firmed about it, and then lightly covered and the covering 
pressed slightly. 

Cultivation. — Carrots in field culture are usually grown in rows 
two or three feet apart according to the notion of the grower. Thin- 
ning in the row is seldom done though the advantage of it would 
be shown in better roots just as with beets. Growers shrink, how- 
ever, from the expense and prefer to trust to frequent cultivation 
between the rows. 

Ridge Culture of Carrots. — Where it is desired to get an early 
start in a locality with a heavy rainfall the ridge system gives good 
results. Choose rich soil, plow after the first rain, and then in Janu- 
ary or February when the ground gets warm (according to the 
season and locality) cross-plow and harrow until the ground is 
thoroughly pulverized. Then ridge some two or three and a half 
feet apart, rake off the combs of the furrows, making them level 
on top and free from lumps. Put in the seed by hand or with a 
seed drill covering lightly, cultivate and thin out for cow-feed dur- 
ing the summer and the crop will be of good uniform size for horse- 
feed during the following winter and spring. Though this practice 
is still followed by some it has been widely superseded in field work 
by later sowing and flat culture. For an early start in the farm 
garden it has, however, some advantages. 



174 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Harvesting. — This is done by pulling, after loosening with the 
plow. The time, as already stated, is usually during the winter, 
but feeding often commences in the fall and continues for several 
months — just as with mangels. 

Field Varieties. — Several large, yellow and white varieties are 
used for stock purposes. The richer color and more convenient size 
of the yellow varieties hold them in favor as a marketable stock 
carrot, but the large size and greater crop of the White Belgian 
makes it a favorite where the crop is to be fed at home. This va- 
riety is grown in all California dairy regions. It sometimes reaches 
a weight of sixteen pounds or more and a yield of over forty tons 
to the acre on rich, deep land, though half of these figures would 
better suit average conditions. The Danvers Half Long, in addi- 
tion to being a good garden carrot, is largely grown for stock. Long 
Orange is valuable on light soils where digging is easy. 

Garden Carrots. — As already stated garden carrots should be 
grown quickly with acceptable heat and moisture. Simple forcing 
conditions, like a bed of five or six inches of good loam over a foot 
or more of tamped manure and a slight protective covering will 
give very sweet and tender roots to the short varieties in our cold- 
est weather. But so much can be done with the ridge system or 
with raised beds described in a previous chapter and with other 
simple modifications of open-air conditions that very Httle forcing 
is done. 

Country gardeners, as a rule, do not know much about the best 
table carrots. They supply their tables and their stock too often 
from the same sowing when much sweeter and tenderer roots should 
be grown in the garden by small sowings of the improved table 
varieties. Those which are most grown in California are the fol- 
lowing : 

Early French forcing carrot: very early, small and fine flavor. 

Ox-heart or Guerande : very short, almost cup-shaped, very rapid grower, 
early and excellent ; does better on heavy soils than the longer rooted kinds. 

Half Long Danvers : a popular market variety, strong grower and suc- 
ceeding on a wide range of soils ; rich color and good flavor. 

Improved Long Orange: smoother and more uniform than the old sort; 
also better flavor and color. 

Chantenay: short and sturdy, bright orange-scarlet, early. 

Improved Short White : best of the whites, short and cylindrical. 

Red St. Valery: one of the best of the medium long varieties. 

Early Scarlet or Short Horn : largely grown and of good quality. 

THE PARSNIP. 

Parsnips are not largely grown in California. Two considera- 
tions may be involved in an explanation of this fact: one is that 
our winter supply of fresher vegetables relieves us from dependence 
upon root-boiling, which is the staple resource of so many dwellers 
in cold climates; another is, that the parsnip, if sown early, is not 
always content to remain dormant and crisp for months as it does 
beneath the snow. It quickly responds to our winter warmth and 



PARSNIPS AND SALSIFY 175 

moisture and starts second growth, which renders the root woody 
and flavorless. It is quite possible for parsnip lovers in warm, moist 
regions to overcome this by mid-summer sowing or it can be pre- 
vented in other places by digging the roots and storing them in boxes 
or barrels of sand in a dry, cool place, and it really should be urged 
that this be done more widely, because those who are not fitted by 
location or inclination to start fall growth of vegetables for winter 
eating, should have a good supply of parsnips, which are, to most 
tastes, delicious. It is not to be expected in this climate that the 
parsnip will be called upon to render the important service that it 
does in the East whenever the snow uncovers the ground in the 
winter or spring, because at that very time we have abundance of 
fresh vegetables hardy in our climate. 

Soil and Culture. — The excellence of the parsnip is vested in 
a well-developed root, and to secure this rich, deep, and permeable 
soil and adequate moisture are required. Deep cultivation and 
manuring will secure these qualities even in rather a heavy soil. 
Parsnip seed is light and should receive a shallow covering but it is 
necessary that it should be well firmed in moist soil to secure ger- 
mination. As soon as the plants are two or three inches high the 
rows should be cleaned of weeds, the plants spaced, and frequent 
use of the cultivator begun, to continue all summer. The sugges- 
tions made for the preparation of soil and cultivation of the beet 
and the carrot have direct application to the growth of the parsnip, 
and the reader is referred to them. 

In the rainy parts of the state it is customary to sow parsnips 
as soon as the ground is in good condition in February, as the plant 
is quite hardy. From this date onward the seed can be successfully 
sown as long as the soil has moisture enough, and in moist interior 
lands seed can be sown in July, or even later, and the plants will 
make a good fall growth and be ready for winter use from the 
ground, as late sowing in a warm region with moisture assured, 
carries the plant along without danger of a check and a second 
growth. 

Varieties. — These varieties of parsnips prevail in this state : 

Hollow Crown or Student: long, large, smooth roots in deep 
soils ; tender, sweet, and fine flavored when well grown. This is 
the chiefly grown variety. 

Irnproved Guernsey: half-long, shorter and thicker than the 
foregoing. 

Devonshire: another short variety popular with market gar- 
deners in southern California. 

Round or Turnip Rooted : better suited for shallow soils, owing 
to shape ; develops faster than the long type. 

SALSIFY. 

This delicious root stands subject to the same conditions which 
have limited the growth of parsnips in this state, but its popularity 



176 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

has increased greatly during the last few years. The requirements 
of the plant in soil, culture, and season correspond very closely to 
the parsnip, and it is taken from the ground all through the autumn 
and winter as parsnips are in California. The seed is a little more 
difficult to start, and pretty generous seeding in soil sure to retain 
fair moisture, and a slightly deeper covering than with parsnip seed 
are desirable. Thinning is essential but the root is slimmer and 
does not require so much room. One variety prevails in local 
interest, the Mammoth Sandwich Island. It is large and otherwise 
better than the older kinds, although the Long White is still grown. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
CELERY. 

Celery. — Apium graveolens. 
French, celeri ; German, sellerie ; Danish, selleri ; Itahan, sedano apio ; 
Spanish, apio. 

Celeriac. — Idem. 

French, celeri-rave ; German, knoll-sellerie ; Dutch, knoll-selderij ; Danish, 
knold-selleri ; Itahan, sedano-rapa ; Spanish, apio-nabo. 

California celery taken from the field during the winter months 
and delivered in the eastern markets by frost-proof cars has, during 
the last few years, made decided progress in competition with the 
eastern product taken from frost-proof storage in pits, or specially- 
constructed celery houses. On certain well-suited soils in regions 
subject to coast influences and, therefore, with moderated summer 
temperature, the celery plant makes a grand summer growth, with 
or without irrigation, according to the natural moisture of the soil, 
and encounters no fall or winter temperature which injures it in 
the open field. In fact, in these special localities and soils, which 
will be described presently, the plant finds naturally provided those 
conditions for splendid development which in less favored regions, 
can only be secured by considerable artifice and investment. For 
these reasons commercial celery growing for distant markets be- 
came a considerable industry, giving great value to lands suited to 
its uses, and reaching a product valued in 1916 at a million dollars. 
Annual shipments are about 3000 carloads, of which about three- 
fourths are produced in the delta region of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin rivers and on lowlands near Sacramento, and one-fourth 
in Los Angeles and Orange counties. 

In many parts of the state, especially on low, moist lands which 
are frequently of saline character, wild celery grows thriftily, and 
its growth has served as an incentive to commercial planting. This 
wild celery is, however, not a native plant. It is merely the garden 
celery which has escaped from cultivation and the escape must have 
been at an early date, for the occurrence was noted by botanists at 
least thirty years ago. It is now widely distributed. 

Locations for Celery. — Celery thrives best in an equable, cool 
temperature, but it accepts conditions in the "cool night" districts 
on the lower lands of the interior valley. It does not well endure 
high heat; it is hardy against California valley frosts, and it de- 
mands adequate moisture. It is, therefore, successfully grown in 
the fall and winter in regions where summer heat is too high, and 
in the equable coast climate it can be enjoyed all the year, provid- 
ing ample soil moisture can be assured. Commercially, it is summer 

[ 177 ] 



178 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

grown for winter shipment because it is then best received in the 
eastern markets. 

Soils. — Aside from abundant moisture the chief requirement 
of the plant is 'large amounts of decomposed vegetable matter in the 
soil. This is provided in ordinary garden soils by the free use of 
well-rotted manure, mixing it thoroughly with the soil by deep dig- 
ging in or trenching, and for home supplies this should be under- 
taken, but those who can, may avail themselves of the conclusions 
of a grower at Castroville, near the coast in Monterey county, who, 
after trying for a number of years, almost in vain, to raise good 
celery on an ordinary dry garden soil, finally borrowed the use of 
a little patch of reclaimed swamp land — deep, black muck, well 
drained but moist — and grew on it very fine celery with but little 
labor. In undertaking production on a commercial scale this ad- 
vantage of specially suited soil is imperative. An instance of such 
soil-fitness is found in the peat lands of the river deltas of southern 
and central California, where celery growing has reached the im- 
portance above noted. The soil largely consists of decomposed vege- 
table matter and becomes, on cultivation, fine and homogeneous. It 
is different from the partially-decomposed and coarse material of 
the tule swamps. It occurs in Orange county in deposits of varying 
thickness and sandwiched with layers of sediment or clay, the peat 
layers being, however, connected through the dense layers by tubes 
through which the water rises in springs and sub-irrigates the sur- 
face layer. This surface is treacherous. Much of it will only sup- 
port horses when shod with plank and some cannot be traversed 
with animals and is worked by drawing tools back and forth with 
cables from firm headlands on each side. Still it is so productive 
of celery that such bottomless land has been rented as high as 
twenty dollars per acre per year. 

In addition to the peat lands celery is also successfully grown 
on light sandy loams and on river sediments. The lightness of the 
soil is directly involved in the blanching, which will be noted later. 

Heavy fertilization is often very desirable for celery, especially 
on the lands last mentioned. Instances are given in which nitrate 
of soda was used at the rate of 675 lbs. per acre after the crop was 
growing on land which has received twenty tons of stable manure 
and thirty bushels of slacked lime per acre. In this case it is also 
claimed that the crop was ready five days earlier than that which 
received no nitrate. 

GARDEN CULTURE OF CELERY. 

Celery plants are grown in a seed-bed for transplanting to per- 
manent place. The seed is very small and very slow of germination, 
and success depends upon maintaining even moisture at the surface. 
For starting plants in winter a hot-bed may be used, but high heat 
is neither necessary nor desirable. A cold frame with cloth cover 
would be better. But it is quite feasible in coast valley situations to 



CELERY IN THE GARDEN 179 

grow the plants in the open air early enough in the spring to get 
the crop for the table from November onward. Simple and correct 
suggestions for garden culture are given by Mr, S. J. Murdock, of 
Orange county, as follows : 

It requires from three to four months from time of sowing the seed till 
the plants are large enough to plant out. The warmer the weather the 
quicker the plants will grow, and the warmer and drier the atmosphere is, 
the more water the seed-bed will need. Select rich, friable soil and sow the 
seed evenly and only moderately thick. Cover the seed but lightly, as they 
are very small, and firm the soil well. Keep the soil or bed moist, not soak- 
ing wet, but never dry, and have patience as they are slow to germinate. 
Keep free from weeds and thin if too thick; one plant to the square inch is 
about right. When the plants get about three inches high, clip the tops off, 
not too close, but about half way, and continue to keep the bed moist, and 
when about four inches high clip again, and they will be ready to plant. 

In about a week or ten days after clipping lift the plants with a shovel or 
garden trowel so as not to disturb the fine roots more than is necessary. 
Trim the main or taproot to two or three inches and keep the roots moist 
until planted. Select a good, rich plat where water is handy, as the ground 
should be as moist as possible to work, and draw shallow furrows, say about 
four inches below the level, and put the plants six inches apart in the row. 
I would prefer a single row of sufficient length to two or more shorter ones. 

Take a hardwood peg, about one and a quarter inches in diameter and 
six inches long ; sharpen one end to make the holes for the plants. Put the 
roots straight, and be sure and firm the soil well around each plant. 

Stir the ground around the plants and keep the soil away instead of up 
to them till the plants get twelve or fourteen inches high, then work the soil 
to the plants (but only when they are dry) and keep the roots moist. If 
in the interior valleys, it is better to blanch it with boards than by banking 
with the earth. Blanch by setting twelve-inch boards on edge on each side 
of the row and secure them with stakes stuck in the ground and tied at the 
top, or some dirt thrown against the bottom of the boards and the tops held 
together with notched strips. It requires from two to three weeks to blanch 
the White Plume and longer for the green sorts. One set of boards will 
blanch two or three lengths, as they can be moved along the row as the 
celery is used. Never bank or board it when wet, and be sure to have both 
bank and boards close enough at the top so that the leaves will shed the rain 
to the outside. 

Blanching may be also done in garden culture by the use of 
drain tiles or by wrapping the plants in pieces of sacking. Any ar- 
rangement which excludes light and water from the stems will 
accomplish the desired results. 

FIELD CULTURE OF CELERY. 

Field culure of celery on the very friable peat lands which 
have been described has developed appliances and processes which 
are very effective and satisfactory, and cheapen production to an 
extent not attainable except on very friable soils. Still the prac- 
tices inculcate the ends to be attained in all cases, though the means 
rnay differ. Mr. S. J. Murdock has given a very explicit descrip- 
tion of the methods he has found most satisfactory in his experience, 
from which the following is largely compiled. 



180 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The Seed-bed. — A seed-bed which is naturally moist or which 
can be sub-irrigated is preferable, although the raised bed with irri- 
gation by seepage, or other arrangement for maintaining moisture 
may be used. The soil must be light and free from baking. The 
seed-bed should be plowed by the middle of December and left 
rough for the action of frosts and rains, and about two weeks be- 
fore sowing, harrow down and thoroughly hand rake. Let it lie till 
seed-time, which is during March, April and May, as to season or 
early or late planting. The early-sown seed requires longer time 
to make plants large enough for planting, but if planted moder- 
ately thick and well cared for, makes strong, sturdy plants. Plant- 
ing earlier than February is, however, undesirable as the plants are 
apt to go to seed after planting out. 

At planting rake the surface thoroughly again with a sharp, 
close-toothed rake and either drill or sow seed broadcast. The drill 
is preferable but if broadcast lightly rake the seed in and either 
roll or firm the soil thoroughly, as there is much seed lost by neg- 
lecting this part. The seed-beds are generally made from four to 
six feet wide, leaving room between each bed to weed and clip them, 
which constitutes the after care except to keep them moist. Keep 
as free from weeds as possible, and when the plants get about three 
inches high, clip the tops about half way down, and when they get 
three or four inches high, if not ready to plant, clip again, as the 
keeping of tops back makes the plants better for transplanting. 

Irrigation is often used to start the plants strongly at first, but 
subsequent growth is secured by very sparing use of water if pos- 
sible. Standing water among the young plants should not be al- 
lowed. It is usually counted that one acre of seed-bed will furnish 
plants for twenty acres of planting out. 

Planting in the Feld. — The land should be thoroughly cleaned 
of trash and given early and thorough preparation as will be de- 
scribed in the chapter on corn. In Orange county planting in the 
early part of June brings the crop for Thanksgiving and in July for 
the holidays and later. In the Stockton district experience has 
favored planting out not later than June in order to bring the crop 
out of the field before the heavy rains and frosts of the lowlands 
in the early winter, which have previously occasioned some heavy 
losses. 

Laying off for planting may be done by taking off all but the 
three inside discs of a disc harrow, attaching a shovel plow in the 
middle and close behind the harrow, and following this with a five 
or six-foot roller with a raised belt around the center, which runs 
in the plow furrow and forms a compact trench about six inches 
deep. Three and one-half or four feet is the usual distance between 
the trenches, and the plants are set six inches apart in the bottom 
of the trench. 

A full crew of planters is ten men ; one to lay out the furrows, 
one spacer or marker, who has an implement which makes from 



FIELD CULTURE OF CELERY 181 

four to twelve holes at a time, depending on the size of tool used. 
There are also four planters and four plant pullers. It is the duty 
of the first man to draw the furrows as straight ami as near equi- 
distant as possible, give general supervision of the planting and see 
that the pullers use judgment in preparing the plants. Unless the 
plants have been recently cHpped in the bed, both tops and roots 
need clipping when pulled, so as to leave the main or taproot about 
two and one-half or three inches long, and the tops clipped of the 
surplus leaves. They are usually put in large-sized milk cans, the 
roots kept wet and delivered to the planters in the pans. The spacer 
makes the holes for the plants just ahead of the planter. Both the 
furrows and holes for plants should be freshly made so as to have 
no dry dirt to hinder the planters, who should be careful and pains- 
taking, as the plants need to be put in the proper depth, the roots 
straight and the soil well firmed around each plant and no unfilled 
space beneath the plant to dry out. A crew should plant from an 
acre to an acre and a half per day, according to the condition of the 
land and the proper oversight of the force. This mode of planting 
leaves the plants from four to six inches below the general level. 

Crowding. — The next operation is called crowding, which is 
done by a tool made as follows : Take a common iron or steel culti- 
vator, take the standards and shovels all off, then take two pieces 
of steel one-fourth of an inch thick, six inches wide and four feet 
long. Sharpen one edge of each piece and bolt to the outside frames 
of the cultivator so that the tops of the steel bars are about even 
with the top of the frame and on top of the rear half of each, add 
eight or ten iches of heavy sheet iron. The front of these blades 
should be from five to six inches apart and the rear about thirty 
inches. In a week or ten days after planting, hitch two steady 
horses to this tool and crowd the dirt away from each side of the 
rows. This kills the new weeds just starting and covers up all 
in the middle of the rows and leaves a ridge of loose soil. Follow 
this by going over each row and filling in all the missing plants with 
strong vigorous ones and uncover any plants covered by clods or 
loose dirt; then take a light, narrow hoe and draw between each 
plant. When plants get larger, work the soil back to them to pre- 
vent spreading. Keep well tilled, and soil moist by irrigation if 
necessary. 

Rolling. — The handling of the soil after "crowding" is described 
by Stanley S. Rogers in this way: The earth between the rows of 
plants is left in a ridge after the plants have been "crowded." A 
large wooden roller which extends across several rows is now used 
to flatten down these ridges and pack to soil more firmly. The 
roller is used only when the plants are small, otherwise they would 
be injured by being crushed. When the plants have grown suf- 
ficiently to be injured by this rolling of the middles, the ridges are 
smoothed down by the cultivator. 



182 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Splitting. — When the plants are twelve to fifteen inches tall, 
earth from between the rows is drawn up to them. This is termed 
"splitting." This should be done carefully, for, if the earth is put 
too close or too high up on the plants, they will become tender and 
weak, especially if the weather is hot. The object of "splitting" is 
to gradually encourage the plants to grow tall and straight instead 
of spreading out. This operation is repeated twice during the sea- 
son, the first time when the plants are fourteen to sixteen inches 
tall and the second time just before banking. This last "splitting" 
also aids blanching. 

Blanching. — There is in market gardens some blanching with 
boards set on edge on each side of the rows secured by stakes made 
of lath stuck in the ground and tied together at the top, but in large 
field growth it is done by banking the soil up to the plants. This is 
done by a machine made the reverse of the crowder described for 
first use and much larger and heavier. It is used with wide end 
forward, which draws and crowds the loose earth up to the plants. 
Blanching is done when the celery is reaching its maturity and is 
nearly ready for shipment. This is the last field operation before 
the crop is cut. When the celery is banked for the first time the 
earth is not drawn very high on the plants, but each time the field 
is banked the soil is drawn higher so as to firmly hold the leaves 
together and in an upright position. If celery that has been banked 
for the last time is not harvested shortly, it will soon become 
"punky." The length of time that it can safely be left in the bank 
depends upon the character of the soil, the weather conditions, and 
upon the condition of the plants themselves. Celery on sandy soil 
will keep much longer in the bank than on adobe or peat soil. If 
the celery has not matured or if the weather is hot or moist its 
keeping quality will be injured. Holding too long in the bank will 
result in a wilted and "punky" product. 

Harvesting. — Although in small areas the plants are cut-under 
with long knives, shovels or other hand tools, on large fields the 
harvesting is done with a "U" shaped cutter attached to an old 
sulky plow frame, which straddles the rows of banked celery, cut- 
ting off the roots and raising the plants in the loose soil. This is 
followed by the trimmers, who lift the plants, trim off the outer 
stalks and square the roots. It is now ready to tie in bunches 
or crate. 

Marketing. — Celery is shipped in crates, 22x25 in. base, which 
holds six to eight dozen of celery, according to size. An average 
crate will weigh about 145 pounds, and 160 crates make an average 
carload. Some eastern dealers prefer the celery shipped in bulk 
or on decks built in the car. This is a much cheaper way to ship, 
and is claimed by some to be just as safe. In shipping in this way, 
three decks are built in the car, and the celery is tied in bunches 
of one dozen each and stood upright with roots resting on the decks. 
By this method three or four hundred dozen more celery can be 



VARIETIES OF CELERY 183 

packed in a car. Celery is shipped to all the principal cities of the 
United States and Canada, and carries successfully. 

The Yield. — An estimated yield per acre is about 1200 dozen 
bunches, which may be worth $300 gross. The average cost of 
growing the crop is placed at from $60 to $100 per acre. 

Varieties. — Formerly the White Plume was the chief variety 
grown for shipment, but it is now chiefly used where an early crop 
is particularly desired. The Golden Self-blanching is now chiefly 
grown, especially for eastern shipment and California seedsmen 
ofifer improved strains Green Top. It will be well for home grow- 
ers to try also some of the higher quality varieties oflfered by the 
seedsmen when they are ready to take particular pains to grow them 
well. Such varieties are Columbia, White Globe, Giant Pascal and 
Winter Queen. These varieties are popular with market gardeners. 

Celery Blight. — Occasionally atmospheric conditions favor the 
growth of a leaf fungus known as celery blight, and great losses 
have resulted in some years. Recent experience shows that the 
blight is subject to control by spraying the plants with the Bordeaux 
mixture, as described in Chapter XXXVIII, as soon as signs of the 
incroachment of the disease appear, or when weather conditions in- 
dicate the danger to be imminent. Special publications on this sub- 
ject can be had from the University Experiment Station at Berkeley. 

CELERIAC. 

The turnip-rooted celery is very desirable for cooking and salad 
purposes. It is grown in nearly the same way as ordinary celery 
except that it is allowed to make free top growth without blanching, 
as the root is the edible part. The Large or Giant Smooth Prague 
is the variety chiefly grown. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
CHICORY AND ENDIVE. 

Large Rooted Chicory. — Cichorium intybus. 
French, chicoree sauvage ; German, cichorie ; Danish, sichorie ; Italian, 
cicoria ; Spanish, achicoria ; Portuguese, chicoria. 

The Endive. — Chicoria endivia. 

French, chicoree endive; German, endivien ; Dutch, andijvie; Danish, 
endivien ; Italian, indivia ; Spanish, endivia. 

The chicory plant cuts no figure at present in the general gar- 
dening of Californians. The use of the blanched leaves, forced in 
the dark from mature roots bedded in sand, is confined to a few 
foreigners who know the barhe-de-capucin of the French or the 
witloof of the Germans. It is a delicious vegetable, either raw, 
boiled, or as a salad. Nor are the leaves in their natural state much 
used here for salad. Both of these uses of the plant should be more 
widely known in California, for the cultivated growth of the roots 
in this state is very fine, and for running wild, as an escape from 
flower garden culture, it might be denounced as a vile weed were 
not its large blue flowers so beautiful upon the yellow of our dry 
summer fields and roadsides. 

Viewing the plant as yielding a root rather than a foliage crop, 
it has been of much importance in this state. The root, sliced, 
dried, roasted and coarsely ground, is the "chicory" of commerce — 
the adulterant of coffee which nearly every one denounces in theory 
and many enjoy in practice; for the occurrence of absolutely pure 
cofifee is so restricted that it often, at first, ofifends the palate of the 
unaccustomed drinker. California chicory growers for years con- 
tested the American markets with German chicory, and a very ca- 
pacious factory was in operation near Stockton for more than 
twenty-five years, and at one time there was another near Sacra- 
mento. The vicissitudes of tariff legislation have made the busi- 
ness uncertain, sometimes very profitable, sometimes not, according 
as the German product entered free or paid duty. If the tariff 
would maintain a favorable attitude, California could furnish cheap 
coffee for the whole country and beet-sugar for its sweetening be- 
sides. For the last few years, however, the business has been much 
reduced and depressed. For the home-grower of coffee counterfeits, 
the chicory plant offers a better material than the "coffee bean" 
and other substitutes which are offered, but all substitutes have had 
a hard road under the pure food laws. The growth of the plant 
and its preparation for the breakfast table are quite simple. 

Chicory grows to prefection on light sedimentary soils which 
afford the root opportunity for expansion, and retain moisture 

[ 184 ] 



WAYS TO HANDLE CHICORY 185 

enough for its thrift during the long, dry surnmer. The plant is 
hardy and the seed is usually sown in February. The preparation 
of the soil, sowing, thinning, weeding and cultivation, are identical 
with the same operations for the sugar beet already described. The 
expense with chicory is, at present at least, considerably greater than 
with the beets, because the moist land which is used gives more per- 
sistent weed growth and occasions an amount of hard work which 
is appalling to an observer. The crop partly compensates for this 
outlay, because the value per ton is twice as great as the sugar beet, 
and the crop is not enough less in weight to equalize things. The 
average crop on Roberts island near Stockton in favorable years is 
about ten tons to the acre, though some years the average will go 
to twelve and the best crops to fifteen tons per acre. The factory 
price for the fresh root has usually been $10 per ton. The cost of 
growing, including rent, ranges from $50 to $80 per acre. The soil 
on Roberts island is a mixture of sediment and peat — deep, rich, 
light and moist; most admirably adapted to the root. 

Harvesting and Curing. — From seed sown in February, har- 
vesting continues from the middle of August to the middle of Octo- 
ber. Early gathering is necessary, as sun-dried chicory is better 
than that cured by artificial heat. When ready for gathering a plow 
is run along each side of the plants with subsoil cutter and lifter 
attached, which loosens the roots so that they can be easily lifted 
from the soil by the hand clean and ready for the cutting machine. 
This operation is like the gathering of sugar beets, and the topping 
or removal of the leaves is the same. 

When they reach the factory the roots are placed in the ma- 
chine, which cuts them into cubic blocks three-fourths of an inch in 
size. The drying platform comes in use next, and when the chicory 
has been dried as far as sun power will dry it, it is placed in the 
roasters, each holding two barrels, where it is roasted as coffee is 
before being ground. From the roasters it goes to the mill, where 
it is ground, put in barrels, and thus becomes the chicory of 
commerce. 

The preparation of chicory for home use is a very simple opera- 
tion and can be done with ordinary kitchen appliances. 

The variety grown is the "large-rooted Magdeburg," with 
leaves entire and upright. 

THE ENDIVE. 

Though botanically a chicory, the endive in its uses is closely 
allied with lettuce and is chiefly useful during the frosty period of 
the year, for then its flavor is likely to be better than that of lettuce, 
because it is able to grow more rapidly with low temperatures. As, 
however, there is so much of California which does favor rapid 
winter growth of lettuce the use of endive is correspondingly re- 
stricted. Still in localities with heavy rainfall and long stretches of 
chilly winter weather, the endive will give good supplies of salad 



186 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

material and should be better known. It is also valuable as a boiled 
vegetable possessing a distinctive flavor which is generally accept- 
able, and used in this latter form it is quite a valuable addition to 
such plants as Swiss Chard and Spinach. 

As a salad plant the value of endive depends largely upon its 
being properly grown and thoroughly well blanched. Blanching 
induces delicacy and tenderness of eating and can probably be best 
effected by bunching up the leaves and tying with string or raffia, 
or by spreading hay or straw thickly over the plants. Some care 
must be given to the proper blanching of the plants, for unless this 
is successfully accomplished endive is not likely to be appreciated. 
Small quantities of blanched endives are brought to San Francisco 
by express from New York, where its importation from Belgium 
and France is regularly made. It comes in 20 lb. baskets and is 
sold in San Francisco at 50 to 75 cents per pound. European gar- 
deners coming to California have tried to displace this importation 
with a product locally grown in European ways but have not found 
the undertaking profitable. 

The plant is easy of culture, the methods being essentially those 
described for lettuce, but chiefly sown in summer and early fall for 
use in the rainy season. The following varieties most largely use 
in California: 

Green curled : very curly, midrib whitish, leaves finely divided. 

White curled: yellowish green, very curly and attractive looking. 

Escarole or Batavian : leaves wider and thicker, dull green, a good variety 
for boiling. 

Staghorn : strong-growing, leaves curly but less finely divided and thicker, 
also good for cooking. 



CHAPTER XX. 
CORN. 

Sweet Corn. — Zca mays. 
French, mais sucre; German, mais; Dutch, Turksche tarwe; Italian, 
grano turco ; Spanish, maiz ; Portuguese, milho. 

California cannot claim to be a large producer of corn, though 
it does grow large corn and has a long green corn season. Of the 
summer grains corn is produced in least amount, because the others 
can make winter growth and corn cannot, and they mature at about 
the time when corn can be safely planted. They pass the dry sea- 
son in the sack while corn has to endure it in the field and does not 
take kindly to it. Dry heat puts it in distress which irrigation does 
not wholly relieve. In the place of corn on the interior plains im- 
proved varieties of sorghum are now largely grown both for the 
grain and the forage. 

But while this is true there are regions in which magnificent 
corn is grown. These are usually moist lowlands from the valleys 
north of the bay of San Francisco southward to San Diego; near 
enough to the coast to catch something of atmospheric humidity 
from the ocean, and still with summer heat enough to suit this 
warmth-loving plant. There are also great corn lands in the river 
bottom of the interior valley, where the drought is less than on 
the plains, and in the low moist lands of the foothill and mountain 
valleys as well. In all these places and where similar conditions are 
produced by irrigation, corn reaches great dimensions. 

Of course corn as a vegetable is somewhat different from corn 
as a grain. So also is corn as a green forage plant. For "roasting 
ears," and for green forage, ripening conditions are not essential, 
and for these purposes the plant can be carried nearer to the coast 
than for a grain crop, and in the warmer regions it can be planted 
late for a longer succession than for grain if moisture enough is 
provided. It is not uncommon, therefore, in the interior to have 
good roasting ears at Thanksgiving or even in December at eleva- 
tions or in other places where early frosts are seldom known. Thus 
corn as a vegetable is California is a greater afifair than corn as a 
grain. It would have even a greater value as a garden plant were 
it not for the ravages of the ear-worm, which takes its full share 
of almost every ear at the times when its appetite is good. 

The Corn Ear-Worm. — The ear-worm is the larva of a grayish 
or brownish moth about an inch long {Chloridea obsoleta) and is 
the same insect as the cotton boll-worm. If the ears get into con- 
dition to receive the eggs when the moth is ready to lay them, there 
is thorough infestation. Sometimes the ears get too far advanced 

[187] 



188 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

and early sown corn largely escapes that year, and sometimes the 
ears come between broods of the moth and, in that case, they are 
relatively free from injury. With garden corn, in a place with a 
long frost-free season, the suggestion is to plant corn at intervals 
in the hope that some of the plantings may shoot ears at wrong 
times for the moth. Generally the late planted corn escapes, or is 
more apt to escape than the early planted, but sometimes, in some 
places, the opposite is true. 

When sweet corn begins to silk, C. E. Trapp, of Los Angeles, 
irrigates thoroughly and keeps the ground moist till all the corn is 
picked. This fills out the kernels and rushes the corn so fast that 
the majority of worms which hatch in the silks, will not have time 
to work their way far down the ear. He has observed that drier 
corn in fields near by is badly spoiled by worms. Robert Haenggi 
encourages the blackbirds which he has observed dilligently seek- 
ing the worms. They stand on the ear, seeming to listen, and then 
open the husk directly over the worm. Blackbirds are also to be 
credited with saving much field corn from the corn worms. 

Some growers choose flint varieties of field corn on the belief 
that the flint hardens earlier in summer and prevents the worms 
going down so far on the ear. 

In 1915 M. L. Germain, of Los Angeles, dusted the silk of the 
ears as soon as it appeared with arsenate of lead powder. The corn 
which he treated was fully 90 per cent clean and free from worms, 
while that portion which was not treated was fully 95 per ctnl 
wormy. 

Soil. — The requirements of Indian corn are so widely known 
that it will hardly be necessary to enter minutely into them. The 
soil should be preferably a rich loam, sufficiently retentive of moist- 
ure and yet easy to keep in fine tilth. Satisfactory results can, how- 
ever, be secured on quite a variety of soils if warmth and moisture 
can be assured. In the heavier soils there is much advantage in 
plowing under the disintegrated roots of previous growths of weeds 
or crop-plants and the best corn often comes here as elsewhere on 
newly-broken land. 

Preparation for Corn. — As the corn plant resents drought so 
strenuously it is very important that preparation of the land should 
include efforts for thorough moistening of the land by rainfall or 
irrigation, followed by surface treatment to prevent evaporation. 
All that has been urged in these directions in the chapter on culti- 
vation has especial pertinence in preparation for the corn crop. It 
is vain to expect to succeed by shallow cultivation except where the 
land is naturally sub-irrigated, and even on such land there must be 
deep working enough to place the seed below the dry surface layer. 
Slack preparation on lands which naturally dry out in the summer 
assures failure and disappointment. 

Planting. — Corn is a very tender plant and must be planted not 
only after frosts are over, but after the soil has become well warmed 



GROWING SWEET CORN 189 

and warmth may be expected to continue. The date of planting 
must be determined by the local attainment of these conditions. From 
this time onward through the summer, planting may be done if 
moisture enough can be retained in the soil. For this reason, on 
moist or irrigated land, corn is planted after winter-growing crops 
are cleared away, and large yields are secured. Near the coast 
where the corn plant is constantly refreshed by ocean moisture in 
the air, it will make good green growth with what remains from 
winter rainfall on land from which a crop of beets or carrot.s, sown 
the previous season, has been cleared away. In such rotation the 
land should be plowed as early as possible after the roots have been 
taken ofif, to keep down the growth of grass and weeds and retain 
moisture till the proper time for planting corn, which will depend 
a good deal on the wetness or dryness of the season. The earliness 
of the first planting will depend mainly on the fitness of the land 
and the situation, but for early use, some early variety of sweet 
corn should be planted as soon as circumstances are favorable for 
doing so, to be followed by several successive plantings, say through 
May and June, and even into July. In suitable situations in south- 
ern California sweet corn is planted through eight months of the 
year; as early as February 1 in the Coachella valley and as late as 
September near the coast, where roasting ears are expected in about 
seventy days from planting on irrigated land. 

Hill or Rozi's. — Growers differ as to the advantages of growing 
in hills or in rows. Hills give opportunity to cultivate in two di- 
rections with the horse. Rows have a tendency to check the draft 
of dry winds when the rows run at right angles to their anticipated 
direction. The general course of dry, hot summer winds is from 
north to south (except where given a different trend by local topog- 
raphy), consequently east and west rows oppose them and in some 
measure shade the soil and the plant better from sun heat. But 
when prevailing practice shows that the ground in the row usually 
goes untouched by tools and consequently becomes hard and dry, 
it is quite a question whether the separation of the plants into hills 
for free cultivation both ways is not on the whole much the better 
method. But choice may be governed by local conditions. Planting 
in hills at 3}4 feet square takes about nine pounds of seed to the 
acre. 

Laying Off and Planting. — Distance in corn planting depends 
upon the habit of growth of the variety. Small early kinds may be 
planted in hills three feet apart each way or in rows three feet 
apart, but larger kinds may need wider spacing, even up to five 
feet. Seed should always be planted in excess : five or six kernels 
to the hill, to be thinned to the three or four strongest plants ; four 
inches apart in the row, to be thinned to ten or fifteen inches ac- 
cording to size of variety. 

For laying off hills in straight lines after plowing and harrow- 
ing, a marker should be used both ways and the corn planted at 



190 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the intersections of the hnes either with the hoe or the hand corn 
planter. For planting in rows the drill attachment or hand dropping 
in the furrow is used, followed by the harrow. 

Depth of planting depends upon the soil and the situation for 
the reasons given in the chapter on propagation. On very light 
soils in dry regions very deep covering is admissible because the 
few inches at the surface count for nothing, but on heavier soils 
in good moisture, and especially early in the season, shallow cover- 
ing is preferable. 

For succession there should be planting done in the garden 
every two weeks during the local season. 

Selection of Seed Corn. — W. D. Trewhitt, of Kings county, 
gives seed selection much credit for his high acreage yield. Two 
selections are made each year. While the corn is still in the field 
it is gone over the first time, stakes being stuck in the ground near 
those stalks which are medium in size and which carry a medium 
amount of long, straight row ears. At harvesting time the ears 
from these stalks are husked separately and taken to the barn where 
they are later picked over again. Here the ears are compared again, 
the above qualities as well as the tightness of the grain on the ear 
being considered. The ears scoring the highest in this final selec- 
tion are the ones used for the next year's seeding, the butt ends, 
however, never being used for seed. 

In 1912 W. G. Stimmel, then superintendent of the Stanford 
ranch at Vina, began selection from the growth of eastern seed 
secured an improved type which is called "Stanford Yellow Dent" 
and has gained wide approval. 

Cultivation. — If deep working of the soil is the foundation of 
a corn crop as stated, frequent summer cultivation is the building 
itself. If the ground is well laid off, the cultivator can be used to 
advantage, even before the corn shows up to destroy weeds and 
loosen the surface. Afterward the cultivator should be run at very 
short intervals, for the hot, dry season is always right at the heels 
of the corn planter and should never be allowed to catch up with 
it. Some of the finest corn we ever saw was grown in Orange 
county in this way: The land was plowed four times, irrigated 
twice, hoed twice, and cultivated and worked in a most thorough 
manner. In the whole process of raising the corn the grower went 
over the land no less than sixteen times. It is hardly to be expected 
that such diligence will be general, but it has to be recognized as the 
price of the best results. 

Combinations with Corn. — As a tall, upright plant corn is avail- 
able for sticking in with other vegetables of spreading habit and in 
hot regions may be used to give partial shade to other plants which 
do not enjoy summer heat as much. In the field planting of 
squashes, cow peas and other running plants is available here as 
elsewhere, if there is soil moisture enough. In the garden a wider 
range is available. 



VARIETIES OF SWEET CORN 191 

Corn and tomatoes are planted half way up on the sides of 
furrows in Manuel Veter's garden in Tehama county. When water 
runs through the furrows it soaks the roots without touching the 
plants. Part of the ridge can be raked into the furrow so soon 
as the water has sunk away. This will kill weeds and prevent the 
evaporation and baking, but keep the roots moist. 

In July while the sweet corn was in silk F. Guido, of San 
Mateo, set large cauliflower plants about 18 inches apart half way 
up the ridge along each row of corn. This was out of the way of 
the corn pickers and still low enough for the water, which was 
turned in the same afternoon they were planted, to settle the dirt 
thoroughly about the roots. The corn proved a first-class shade for 
the new plants till they got started. 

Obviously bands of three rows of sweet corn are good shelter 
. in the hot season for the blocks of low vegetables they enclose 
against hot dry winds. Corn should not be planted in single rows 
as pollination is apt to be only partial and ears scantily filled. 

Varieties. — Every one wants early corn, and the early varieties 
are about the only kinds that can be grown on some uplands with- 
out irrigation. They are small in growth, rapid in ear and best 
wherever the season is shortened either by lack of moisture or heat. 
Some later varieties are sweeter, however, and larger in the ear, and 
should be grown wherever possible. 

Early Cory: very early, good-sized ear, small cob well filled. 

Golden Bantam : very early, ears medium size ; kernels yellow, rich and 
delicious — a surprise to those unaccustomed to such quality in a yellow corn. 

Early Adams : a dwarf, small cob variety, popular in Imperial valley for 
earliest crop. 

Large Adams : freer growth, also very quick to mature ; good for late 
planting for fall crop. 

Crosby's Early Sugar: very early, short ear, sweet and productive. 

Early Minnesota: very early, good ear, white cob, excellent quality. 

Early Mammoth : medium early, largest ears of the early varieties, cob 
white, large and well filled, productive and of good flavor. 

Black Mexican : ears rather short, cook white, very sweet, ripe kernel 
black. 

Oregon Evergreen: early, large, rich ear; husk resists wilting; popular 
with market growers. 

Country Gentleman: large ears, very sweet, tall, very productive. 

Golden Cream: a yellow country gentleman of high quality. 

Stowell's Evergreen : a standard late variety, commended by all, large 
ears, deep grain, tender and sweet, a strong grower and productive. 

Stabler Early: early; small kernel; good table variety. 

Forage Corn. — Sweet corn is constantly increasing in popu- 
larity over common field corn for green and cured forage for cows. 
Late Mammoth and Stowell's Evergreen are largely used for this 
purpose. In farm garden practice more attention should usually be 
paid to the forage value of the stalk. If cut and cured as each 
stalk is robbed of its ears, it is more nutritious than if allowed to 
bleach in the sun until the whole field is cleaned up. 



192 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

FIELD AND SILAGE CORN. 

The growth of corn in Cahfornia as a grain or silage crop is 
out of the view of this treatise. An interesting pubHcation on the 
subject can be had from the Experiment Station at Berkeley. Dur- 
ing the last decade silos have multiplied in various parts of the 
state and a much greater acreage of field corn has been grown than 
formerly. It is chiefly grown in rows and somewhat less carefully 
than corn for grain, because the plant is not required to meet the 
strenuous requirements of grain for ripening. Still the better the 
growing the better the crop. A hardy, vigorous, tall growth is im- 
portant for silo filling. Varieties chiefly grown are the Leaming, 
which well meets these points and is the most popular of the yellow 
varieties in California, and Sanford White Flint, and Hickory King 
hold about the same place among white sorts. In the Imperial val- 
ley Mexican June does better than varieties of eastern origin. The 
Red Cob Ensilage is a strong growing, short jointed and leafy va- 
riety especially selected for silo purposes. 

Very little suckering of corn is done in California. The grower 
may either get more corn by suckering or that the corn he does get 
will be better developed by preventing diversion of sap from the 
main stalks, it is becoming more clear that enough is not gained 
in either way to pay the cost of suckering. 

Corn After Grain Hay. — W. D. Trewhitt, of Kings, averages 
eighty bushels of corn after taking off a crop of wheat or barley 
hay from the same land each year. The corn is usually planted the 
latter part of June after the land has been irrigated and plowed 
good and deep. As soon as it gets above the ground cultivating is 
done as long as possible, usually three times. One irrigation is 
made after planting, when the corn is just beginning to tassel out. 

POP CORN. 

Pop corn is grown in Cahfornia to some extent but much is 
brought from the East. Most of California popcorn is grown in 
Los Angeles county. The demand for California popcorn is strong 
because it is raised in a temperate, dry climate, where irrigation is 
taken off when the silks begin to turn, drying the kernels and cobs 
so the corn is ready to pop four weeks after picking. Eastern 
corn must cure three times as long. Robert Haengge of Inglewood 
raises about 40 acres every year; and eastern field corn does not 
grow more thriftily. It stools out often eight or ten stalks from 
one kernel and each stalk averages about two salable ears. 

TAMALE COVERS. 

A by-product of the corn field is the tamale wrapper for which 
a variety of corn with a thin paper-like husk is required. Two or 
three hundred pounds may be had to the acre, and some estimate 
about one ton of husks to six tons of corn. On harvesting for both 




> 



u 










iBV^'J:v.;5- -' -n* 



> > jJ*"' yi* 



CORN HUSKS FOR TAMALE COVERS 193 

corn and husks the ears are broken off from the stalks entire, and 
placed in convenient piles, around which the operators sit while 
breaking or cutting out the ears without great disturbance of the 
coverings, which are placed in neat bales of about sixty pounds 
each, in which they are sent to the buyer. The price is variable, 
and has ranged in different years from four to fifteen cents a pound. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
THE CUCUMBER. 

Cucumber. — Cucumis sativus. 
French, concombre ; German, gurke ; Dutch, komkommer ; Danish, 
agurken; Italian, cetriolo; Spanish, cohombro; Portuguese, pepino. 

The cucumber is rather an exacting plant and seldom yields 
anything but disappointment to the grower who does not give it 
the most watchful care and generous supplies of food and drink. 
It is very sensitive to frosts, nor does it thrive in low temperatures 
even if free from frost. It rejoices in heat, but it abhors drought. 
It is not content, like some members of its botanical family, to 
thrive in dry heat if it can find moisture below ; the heat reflected 
from a dry surface and interior sunshine beaming through dry air 
brings distress to its foliage. For these reasons it usually resents 
location on interior plains unless it can have abundant moisture and 
some protection from heat — such at least as locally may come from 
modifying the air immediately around it, by evaporation from water 
standing near. Modified interior conditions such as are found on 
river-side lands, or moist lowlands often yield fine growth and pro- 
ductiveness, but even there it is often necessary to keep the moist- 
use close to the plant by irrigation. In coast valleys where heat and 
moisture are well balanced and on soil rich and moist by cultivation 
the plant may be productive enough without irrigation, but as a rule 
even in parts of coast valleys where the heat runs high, as ocean 
influences are reduced, not only is occasional irrigation needed, but 
constant supplies are the price of thrift in the plant. For these rea- 
sons the placing of cucumbers along the main ditches where water 
frequently or always flows, or the use of a raised bed with water 
flowing on the ridge, is the surest way to make the plants satisfac- 
tory and prolific where the heat runs high. And yet, as stated, 
there are considerable areas in different parts of the state where 
conditions are so favorable that field growth of cucumbers for the 
market and for the pickle factories, is feasible without irrigation. 
There are moist lowlands, rich and warm, where the foliage does 
not show burnt edges and where the free growth of vine is marvel- 
ous to one who has tried to push the plant in places too trying for it. 
It is also possible in frostless regions where heat comes early in the 
spring, to find conditions for an early crop which is disposed of 
before trying summer conditions come on. Early spring condi- 
tions in California are widely favorable to the plant did not the frost 
factor intrude. Autumn growing is also practicable where moisture 
is adequate, for then heat and drought are modified. Cucumbers 
[194] 



WAYS TO GROW CUCUMBERS 195 

from the open ground at Thanksgiving or later are common in 
some regions. 

Soil. — Cucumbers require a rich soil, and it must be retentive 
of moisture, for the reasons stated, unless water is to be constantly 
supplied. A rather light soil which warms up early is preferable, 
but heavy soil can be readily adapted to cucumbers on a small scale 
by free use of well-rotted manure thoroughly mixed. A free loam, 
not disposed to bake, is the best soil. 

Preparation of Soil. — Land from which a well-cultivated root 
crop has been removed for winter use can be easily put into condi- 
tion for cucumbers by good deep spring plowing and harro^ying, 
to retain moisture. New land should receive such fall and winter 
treatment as has been prescribed for bean planting, so as to secure 
in spring as good tilth and moisture retention as possible. 

Planting and Cultivation. — Cucumbers are usually grown in 
hills, from four to six feet apart each way. Planting should not 
be done until the soil becomes warm and frost injury is over; then 
planting five or six seeds in a hill, covering as lightly as can be 
trusted to retain moisture until the plants take hold. As soon as 
the plants appear, cultivation must begin, using the horse between 
the rows and the hoe around the plants. The surface must be kept 
mellow and free from weeds. If the plants all grow select the best 
two or three and pull out the others. Continue cultivation as long 
as it is possible to stir the soil without injuring the vines. 

Field planting is sometimes done by turning furrows eight feet 
apart, planting the seed on each side of the furrow, having the hills 
at least four feet apart in the row; train the vines away from the 
furrow and use the furrow to run the water in, keeping it away 
from the plant and the fruit. 

Gathering. — Frequent gathering of the cucumbers as they reach 
satisfactory size is essential to the long bearing of the vines. None 
should be allowed to ripen except on vines planted for that purpose, 
and all imperfect specimens should be taken off as soon as seen. 

Cucumbers Under Cover. — Very little is done in California in 
house-growing of cucumbers. A little forcing is done by market 
gardeners, but the business is risky because of the slight demand 
and the fact that open-air cucumbers from early regions come so 
soon after the late crop from frostless places is disposed of. Grow- 
ing under cover of glass or cloth is done without providing artificial 
heat. The natural temperatures and protection from frost are relied 
upon. It is quite common to start plants under cover, and plant 
out early even at risk of replanting. Growers usually keep a stock 
of plants ready for this purpose. 

Garden Culture of Cucumbers. — In the garden very elaborate 
arrangements may be made to secure early cucumbers. Growing 
the plants on inverted sod and planting out as a whole hill, as de- 
scribed in Chapter XI, is satisfactory. Planting on the sides of 
ditches has already been mentioned. Growing hills or single plants 
in tin cans or other receptacles and protecting them until safe to 



196 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

plant out is also an easy way to get an earlier crop than otherwise. 
This method is in fact employed on quite a large scale by Chinese 
growers in the Marysville region of the Sacramento valley in this 
way : About the latter third of February, the time varying with the 
season, the seeds are planted in old tin cans that have otherwise out- 
lived their usefulness, to give the plants a good start in spite of 
frosts. Rich soil with lots of manure is used in the cans, and after 
the plants are a couple of inches high, and weather permits, the cans 
are split open so as to let the roots out without disturbing the soil, 
and set out in raised beds, where they start bearing about the mid- 
dle of May. The cucumbers are picked every morning and are 
well irrigated and the next morning are ready to pick again. They 
have about a two months' start in the market over the bay districts 
and the San Joaquin truck gardens. 

Some use is made of deep holes partly filled with tramped horse 
manure and then with earth and growing plants on top of the hill 
thus formed, protected with glass or cloth. With such arrange- 
ments double care must be had to supply enough water. The south 
side of a fence or building is a good place for fast spring growth. 
In short, moderate heat, copious watering and rich soil are the se- 
crets of good cucumbers, and there is much chance for ingenuity in 
securing these conditions. 

For pickling. — Cucumbers for pickling are largely grown in 
the early autumn from midsummer planting. As stated before, 
where irrigation can be had, autumn temperatures are often very 
favorable for the plant. 

Varieties. — Although our county fairs may be counted upon to 
bring to view almost every shape and length of cucumber which 
amateurs delight in, very few kinds constitute the crop grown 
for use: 

Arlington White Spine : good size, straight and symmetrical, holds green 
color well, very productive and early; used both for market and pickling. 

Evergreen White Spine : ar standard mid-season variety, large, dark 
green, tender, white crisp flesh. 

Klondike : similar to Long White Spine, specially favored by southern 
California market growers. 

Long Green : an old standard late variety ; dark green ; firm and crisp ; 
good form ; a favorite for pickling. 

Green Prolific or Boston Pickling : early and productive ; small size ; 
crisp and tender; popular for pickling. 

Everbearing: very early and prolific; medium length, thick; rich dark 
green. 

Davis Perfection : long, slender, good green color, and flesh white and 
crisp ; flavor excellent ; commended for family garden. 

Cumberland : hardy, vigorous and prolific ; very desirable for pickling 
because very good in all sizes. 

Chicago Pickling : medium long, dark green, rounded ends ; a popular 
pickling variety. 

Cool and Crisp : especially favored as a garden variety ; green but ripen- 
ing white. 

Lemon : resembles its namesake in shape and color and is used when 
yellow ; eaten as plucked from vines ; also used as are other cucumbers ; 
becoming popular. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
EGG PLANT. 

Egg Plant. — Solanum melongena. 

French, aubergine ; German, eierpflanze ; Flemish, eierplant ; ItaHan, 
petonciano ; Spanish, berengena ; Portuguese, bringela. 

Egg plant is one of the great vegetables in California ; it is 
great in size and quality, which are easily attained, and great in 
its popularity. It is doubtful whether any part of the world makes 
such free use of the plant, and enjoys it through so long a season. 
Although the plant is properly classed as tender, and is somewhat 
exacting in the starting of the seed and in transplanting, it grows 
riotously when well established in a favorable location and soil; 
fruits freely and continuously, and it is not unusual to find at Cali- 
fornia fairs specimens of six pounds' weight, while fruit of two 
and three pounds constitute common stock with the vegetable 
peddlers. 

Location and Soil. — Egg plant can be successfully grown al- 
most everywhere in California, but there will naturally be much 
variation in its season, according to the local occurrence of the 
frost-free period. In the frostless belts, described in previous chap- 
ters, it is feasible to start the plants in the autumn and secure a 
very early crop ; in most places, however, the plants can best be 
grown with bottom heat in the winter, and fruiting secured all 
through the summer and fall, if the nights are rather warm and the 
dry heat not too fitful. 

As the plant will endure very high heat if well supplied with 
moisture, and as it resists drought, when well established, it is well 
adapted to interior conditions. It succeeds admirably in the in- 
terior bottom lands if water is not excessive, and is perfectly at 
home as well in the coast regions, both valley and uplands, if ade- 
quately watered. It is not very exacting in soil character, and can 
be safely undertaken on any good garden land if well cultivated and 
manured ; for the plant is a strong feeder and should grow fast and 
regularly. 

Grozving the Plants. — Egg plants can be easily grown from 
seed by the use of seed-boxes, with bottom heat or in an ordinary 
hot-bed, all of which are described in the chapter on propagation. 
The seed should be covered about half an inch. Extra regard must 
be had for maintaining a uniform and rather high temperature for 
the starting and early growth of the seedlings. Transplanting the 
seedlings, into other seed-beds or cold frames, twice before planting 
out renders them more stocky. Planting out should only be done 
when the soil is warm and in good moist condition, for it is neces- 

[ 197 ] 



198 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

sary that the seedlings should quickly take hold and proceed vigor- 
ously afterward. Plants may be grown from three to four feet 
apart each way. 

After Treatment. — The best of cultivation must be given to 
prevent any check or setback in the growth of the plants. Irriga- 
tion must be used as necessary to advance this result. It is desir- 
able that the plant should be prevented from setting too many fruits, 
and pinching off the terminals to prevent too great running out is 
often advisable. It is also desirable to dispose the fruits so they 
do not enlarge upon each other. 

Varieties. — The New York Improved Purple is the favorite 
variety and is chiefly grown. Black Beauty, a deep purple, a little 
earlier but usually not quite so large is also popular. Other sorts, 
though much less popular, are the Early Long Purple and the Black 
Pekin. The White Pearl is the best of the whites which are, how- 
ever, in less demand. The Tree Egg Plant is hardy, upright and 
escapes some ills of lower growing varieties in bad weather. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
LETTUCE. 

Cabbage Lettuce. — Lactuca capitata. 
French, laitues pommees ; German, kopfsalat ; Dutch, kropsalad ; Italian, 
lattuga a cappucio ; Spanish, lechuga acogollada ; Portuguese, alface repolhada. 

Cos Lettuce. — Idem. 
French, laitues romaines ; German, bind-salat ; Dutch, roomsche latouw ; 
Italian, lattuga romana ; Spanish, lechuga romana ; Portuguese, alface 
romana. 

Lettuce is emphatically a satisfactory garden plant in Califor- 
nia. It is unaffected, except in slower growth, by the ordinary 
winter temperatures of our valleys and foothills, and it endures the 
heat, if moisture is adequate, with only slight protection from the 
burning sun. It withers and dies or it becomes tough and worth- 
less, in the face of drought, it is true, but any gardener who does 
not arrange better for its growth does not deserve to enjoy its re- 
freshing crispness. Whoever will provide the simplest arrange- 
ment to relieve its roots from cold, standing water in winter, or 
who will keep its roots moist and afford slight shade for its tender 
leaves from the interior heat in summer, need never miss a day of 
lettuce-gathering. And even these slight aids from the grower are 
not needed everywhere. In regions naturally moderate, both in 
moisture and heat, and with a few weeks of watering in midsum- 
mer, succession of lettuce is unbroken throughout the year on any 
good garden soil which is well cultivated. There is little lettuce 
forcing in California, and, of course, with such natural conditions, 
there is small need of any, and yet during recent years, owing to 
the constant demand for lettuce all the year, because of the in- 
creased importance of salads in the menu, there has arisen new 
opportunity for forcing and shipment of lettuce considerable dis- 
tances by rail has advanced notably during the last decade. In 
central California cities during the season of heaviest rains it is 
hard to get bright, clean lettuce from local market gardens and 
much is brought from southern California, where there is less rain 
and more winter sunshine. In addition to such movement within 
the state, about 1500 carloads are annually shipped beyond state 
lines. From Imperial county during March and April about 500 
carloads and from Los Angeles and Orange counties from November 
to June about 1000 carloads are shipped. This product is distributed 
through eastern states and Canada. In addition to the foregoing, 
which is estimated to occupy about a thousand acres, there are per- 
haps five hundred acres in commercial lettuce growing in the dis- 
tricts of San Francisco, Sacramento and Stockton. All of this is 

[199] 



200 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES v 

grown in the open air. It is to be expected that as population in- 
creases there will be a better opportunity for local forcing enter- 
prises which can be conducted with slight structures and a minimum 
of artificial heat. 

GARDEN CULTURE. 

Lettuce can be sown on moist ground the year round. It is 
exceedingly rapid in development (from seed to head in fourteen 
weeks, perhaps) and can be grown as a catch crop among slower 
growing vegetables at all times of the year. It starts readily from 
the seed, and the most common practice is to sow a thin drill of it 
here or there, as interspace is to be for a short time unoccupied, 
thinning the plants at the first weeding and allowing them to head 
in the thinned row. This is the simplest practice, and will be most 
generally followed in the farm garden. And yet it is so easy to 
imitate the market gardeners and put in transplanted lettuce here 
and there, wherever an unoccupied corner appears, that this prac- 
tice must be urged even for the simplest gardening. 

It is possible to grow about thirty thousand heads to the acre 
by proper laying off and culture. Plants 14 inches apart in rows 
16 inches apart is a good lay-out for hand cultivation. Transplant- 
ing should be done when the ground is moist and irrigation should 
soon follow planting unless rain comes. 

Wherever a winter or early spring vegetable is cleared away a 
due share of lettuce should go in. Wherever a summer vegetable 
yields the ground, the soil should be well soaked and cultivated 
and the lettuce should not be overlooked. As soon as the fall rains 
sufficiently wet the ground, lettuce should be among the first sow- 
ings. And before the winter comes on, with its heavy rains, a 
warm ridge or raised bed should have its lettuce covering under- 
way so that midwinter shall not lack its supply of salad. And in 
February, as the ground is again suited for flat culture, new sow- 
ings of lettuce should be among the first things done. Thus it is 
seen that lettuce is to be sown all the year and plucked all the year 
in California. 

It is not necessary, perhaps, to sow lettuce so often if seed- 
beds are prepared so that they will readily drain away winter water 
and have slight protection from cold winds in the winter and burn- 
ing sun in summer. From these beds plants can be taken at dif- 
ferent times as land is available for planting out, just as cabbages 
are transplanted, and even though the plants have attained consid- 
erable size in the seed-bed, the long roots can be shortened a little 
and, if not too large, they can still be transplanted to good moist 
soil, and will go on with heading all the better for the freer space. 
Seed-beds should not have much heating material in this climate. 
It is better for the plants to grow slowly at first, and after the 
rains a raised bed with enough fibrous material and well-spent ma- 
nure will furnish a long succession for transplanting. But whether 



COMMERCIAL LETTUCE GROWING 201 

the ordinary grower will undertake this work or not, let him have 
lettuce anyway — even if he will only scatter seed at frequent in- 
tervals on moist ground and then give the plants good hoeing. To 
get crisp, tender lettuce the plants must be pushed along with rich 
soil and good cultivation whatever method of growing is pursued. 
In the hot parts of the state, where the summer tries the plants, 
lettuce should be planted on the shady side of tall growing vege- 
tables, and then, with moisture enough, they will do well. Lath 
screens or other devices are, of course, serviceable if one prefers 
them. But do not be content with a little lettuce in the spring and 
go without the rest of the year. It only requires a little ingenuity 
and energy and water to have salad all summer. Even if the grower 
does have to face the vexation of plants going to seed in the ex- 
treme heat, he should persist in his effort. 

COMMERCIAL LETTUCE GROWING. 

Details of commercial lettuce growing are faithfully set forth 
by Prof. S. S. Rogers, of the University Farm, who has given par- 
ticular attention to this subject for several years and has written a 
special publication* from which we draw both text and illustrations. 

For the interior valleys of the state the planting season gen- 
erally starts during the last of August and continues until the first 
of March. Many growers make a first planting of the seed from 
the middle to the last of August, a second in October, and a third 
during January and February. Along the coast, where the climate 
is more moderate, it is possible to grow lettuce successfully during 
any month of the year. 

There are two methods for growing lettuce, both of which are 
used extensively in California. The first is by planting the seed 
directly in the field, sowing it in drills on the borders of the raised 
beds ; the second is to sow in seed-beds and transplant the young 
plants into the field when they have attained the desired size. 

There are several forms of seed-beds in use, the most common 
being the sunken beds, which vary from three to six feet in width 
and eight to fifteen feet in length. The earth taken from the bed 
is hoed up to form a levee around it to aid in irrigating. Before 
planting, a heavy coating of well-rotted manure is spaded under 
and the soil is heavily irrigated just before seeding. The seed may 
either be broadcast or sown in drills, and covered one-half inch. 
If the soil is liable to run together and bake when irrigated, a thin 
coating of well-rotted, screened stable manure should be applied 
on the surface before seeding. It will aid in germination if strips 
of burlap are placed on the soil to remain until the young plants 
are appearing at the surface. In removing this covering the young 
plants should not be exposed too suddenly to the light. During the 
warm months it is often necessary to irrigate several times before 

'Circular 160, University Experiment Station, "Lettuce Growing in California," by 
Stanley S. Rogers, March 1917. 



202 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

the young plants appear. The water may be applied either through a 
sprinkler or by flooding, using only a small stream so that the 
tender seedlings may not be injured. The amount of irrigation 
which the beds will need depends largely upon the character of the 
soil and the season of the year. During the early fall the beds 
are often irrigated three or four times a week, while later in the 
season one or two irrigations will prove sufficient. When the plants 
are one and a half or two inches tall the beds may be weeded and 
the plants thinned, leaving the distance between the plants not less 
than one inch. 

Under ordinary conditions the plants remain in the seed-beds 
six weeks, although the time will vary from one to two months 
with the season of the year and care of the plants. When planting 
directly in the field three to four pounds of seed will be sufficient 
for one acre ; in seed-beds for transplanting at the University Farm 
Garden, 2600 square feet of seed-beds raised plants enough for 
one acre. 

When quick-growing plants are desired the seed should be 
sown in hot-beds in preference to the open beds. This is occa- 
sionally done during the winter and early spring. 

Lifting the Plants. — Plants may be transplanted when they are 
from two to four inches tall, the larger size being preferable during 
the warm weather. Before removing, the plants should be hardened 
by stopping the irrigation a few days in advance so that their 
growth may be checked. A few hours before the plants are to be 
removed they should be thoroughly irrigated in order that as m.uch 
soil and as many fibrous roots as possible may be taken up with the 
seedlings. There are two methods for removing the plants. Those 
who have had considerable experience may pull them by hand. 
Those with limited experience, and especially if the soil is of a 
heavy nature, should dig them with the aid of a trowel or shovel. 
The plants should be constantly covered until they are planted in 
the field and not exposed to the sun. If the seedlings are too large, 
the leaves and roots should be cut back — the top three inches tall 
and roots two inches long. 

Preparation of the Soil. — The soil should be in the finest possi- 
ble condition and free from all weed growth. Many growers apply 
from fifteen to twenty-five tons of manure per acre. This should 
be applied long enough in advance of planting so that it may be 
plowed under and completely rotted by the time the field is ready 
for use. In the fall before the rains have commenced, the field 
should be heavily irrigated before plowing, but in the winter and 
spring months there is generally a sufficient amount of moisture 
without irrigation. After the soil has been worked into good con- 
dition, raised beds or ridges should be made by the use of a special 
cultivator attachment. The beds should be from twelve to eighteen 
inches wide, four to six inches high, and the spaces between them 
ten to fifteen inches — extending to main ditches or across the field. 



LETTUCE CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION 203 

Planting. — The distance between the plants in the field varies 
from eight to fifteen inches. Where a variety producing large 
heads, such as the Los Angeles, not less than twelve inches apart, 
in rows twelve inches apart is best, but if a smaller variety the 
spaces may be slightly reduced. If he seed has been sown directly 
in the field the plants should be thinned when they are from two to 
four inches tall, and the vacant spaces filled with those removed 
while thinning. 

Irrigation. — A few days before planting, the field should be 
irrigated in order to settle the earth in the raised beds, and to show 
how far up on them the water will come. If this is not done many 
of the plants will be so high on the beds that they will not receive 
sufficient water, while others will be so low that they will be in- 
jured from an over-supply. As soon as the plants have been trans- 
planted the field should be thoroughly irrigated, and it is especially 
important while they are young that frequent irrigations be given. 
In applying the water care should be taken that it is not allowed to 
flow over the tops of the beds, and it will be found much more sat- 
isfactory to use a small stream, allowing it to run between the beds 
slowly, and thoroughly soaking into them, than a larger stream 
flowing more rapidly. 

The number of irrigations which the field will require can only 
be determined by the condition of the plants. It is sometimes de- 
sirable to irrigate every week throughout the season, while under 
other conditions one or two irrigations will be sufficient. There 
should always be an adequate amount of rnoisture in the soil from 
the time the plants have commenced to head until they have ma- 
tured, because the character and size of the heads is influenced to a 
great extent by the quantity of soil moisture present. 

During the late spring if it is desirable to hold the crop in the 
field for a short time after it has matured, no more water should 
be applied, as it will increase the liability of the plants going to seed. 

Cultivation. — When raised beds are used all cultivation is done 
by hand, the field being hoed from one to five times during the sea- 
son, depending upon the soil, the weed growth, and the thorough- 
ness with which the beds have been made and irrigated. The soil 
need not be hoed between the beds unless there is a heavy growth 
of weeds. Occasionally water will flow over the tops of the beds 
and these low places should be hoed after each irrigaion if the soil 
has a tendency to run together, for the growth of the plants will be 
retarded if he earth close to them is allowed to harden. 

Harvesting. — The time required to mature a crop of lettuce va- 
ries with the season, the character of the soil, and the care. Plants 
set in the field during September should mature during November 
and December. Plants set in the field during November will ma- 
ture from February to April, inclusive, and those transplanted dur- 
ing February and March will mature from April to June. 



204 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The period of growth at which the crop should be harvested 
depends largely upon the season, market requirements and prices. 
The California market demands a large solid head and the crop 
should remain in the field until it has reached this condition. 

Chief Lettuce Troubles. — A good full field or garden bed de- 
pends upon good seed and careful attention to cultural require- 
ments which have been outlined. 

During winter and spring, especially on heavy soils, there is 
danger of stem-rot. The plants become sickly yellow and the stems 
rot at the surface of the ground. Diseased plants may appear 
scattered throughout the field, or in well-defined areas. This is a 
fungus disease which thrives best under excessive moisture condi- 
tions. For control improve the drainage and make the beds high 
enough so that the water will not stand directly around the plants. 

Sunburn is manifested by a blackening of the edges of the 
leaves inside the heads. The cause is a period of excessive hot 
weather from the time the plants are half-grown until they have 
commenced to head. Planting in the fall or early spring will largely 
control this disease; if the weather is very hot and dry during the 
spring the plants should be irrigated frequently. 

Failure to produce solid heads is caused either by a poor 
quality of seed, an insufficient supply of moisture, or unfavorable 
climatic conditions, such as excessive hot weather while the plants 
are maturing. Use only well selected seed and apply sufficient moist- 
ure at the time the heads are maturing. During the late spring 
when the weather is hot the crop should be harvested immediately 
after the heads have matured. 

Varieties. — There is almost illimitable variety in lettuce, and 
inextricable confusion in the nomenclature resulting from renaming 
by seedsmen and others. As with other plants, however, a few va- 
rieties constitute the bulk of the California lettuce product. It is 
customary to arrange lettuce varieties in two groups ; one has round- 
ish heads and includes the "cabbage" varieties ; the other has elon- 
gated heads and includes the "cos" varieties. There is, of course, 
much difference in the density of the heads, and some are quite loose 
and open, but the close-heading varieties are better and the more 
suitable for market handling. In California the cabbage varieties 
very largely preponderate over the cos varieties, and the non-head- 
ing or "cutting lettuces," or curled varieties, are not widely grown, 
though they may be found useful in getting the quickest foliage from 
the seed sowing. It should be noted that compared with the cab- 
bage type, the cos lettuce is hardier and less susceptible to frost; it 
also shows more ability to withstand drought and is also less liable 
to sunburn, the last two features making it better adapted to hot 
and dry localities, while the first is one which especially recommends 
its use as a late kind. And yet the firm-heading varieties are over- 
whelmingly superior commercially and are secured by growing 
them in different districts at seasons of the year which afford the 



POPULAR VARIETIES OF LETTUCE 205 

conditions which they require. The following are popular varieties 
in California: 

Los Angeles, renamed New York Market : very large, round head, crisp, 
white, good flavor; the best shipping variety. 

Iceberg: stands heat and is less liable to go to seed; resembles Los 
Angeles variety, but also reddish tinge on leaf-edges. 

California Cream Butter: large, solid, round heads, light green; spotted 
and tinged with brown ; creamy yellow within ; stands heat well, particularly 
popular for autumn and winter use ; resembles Big Boston. 

Big Boston : a light green cabbage variety with light brown tinge to the 
leaves ; largely grown in the south for northern shipments ; forms a fine 
head, endures temperature changes well. 

May King: a very early, quick heading variety, colored like Big Boston; 
good for spring and summer use. 

White Paris Cos : upright grower, with long head ; needs tying up for 
blanching; tender and crisp, a favorite with foreign residents. 

Improved Hanson : heads round, very solid and large, green outside and 
white within ; flavor fine ; stands heat well ; very popular for house gardens. 

Prize Head : an early variety with large, loose bunch, remains tender 
and crisp through long season ; flavor excellent ; very easily grown. 

The Morse : large, non-heading variety forming large bunch of loose 
leaves, crisp and of fine flavor. 

Denver Market : early, tight, conical head ; light green, leaves curled 
and crimped ; crisp and tender ; very slow to go to seed. 

Early Curled Simpson : an early non-heading variety, leaves almost 
white and very large; stands heat well. 

Other varieties locally offered are "Wonderful," commended 
in southern California; "Tennis Ball," resembling "California Cream 
Butter" but smaller and pure green ; "Marblehead," an all-the-year 
variety of high quality; and many others which will delight the 
amateur. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
MELONS. 

The Cantaloup or Muskmelon. — Cucumis melo. 
French, melon; German, melone; Dutch, meloen; Itahan, popone; 
Spanish, melon; Portuguese, melao. 

The Watermelon. — Citrullus vulgaris. 
French, melon d'eau ; German, wasser-melone ; Italian, cocomero ; 
Spanish, sandia; Portuguese, melamia. 

From the manner in which they are eaten melons should be 
classed with fruits ; from the manner in which they are grown they 
are more closely related to vegetables. Their nearest botanical rel- 
atives, also, are of the vegetable class. They evidently cannot be 
excluded from this work because of their aspiration to rank with 
the fruits. 

California is characteristically great for melons; not only for 
their great size and excellence, but for the long season during 
which they are available for table use. Their delight in interior 
heat, their tolerance of drought, their immense size, when both 
heat and moisture combine for their advancement, constitute ex- 
ceptional adaptations for semi-tropical cHmates, in which they have 
been famous from the earhest times. California answers their 
needs to the fullest degree, and they have naturally attained great 
local esteem and popularity. The length of the frostless season 
and the varying degrees of spring and summer heat in different 
parts of the state give us command of early and late melons be- 
yond that of any other part of the country, as will be noted pres- 
ently. For this reason CaHfornia melons have during the last 
decade and a half figured largely in national trade eastward and in 
shipment to northern Pacific ports. California's position in the 
melon production of the United States is shown by the Monthly 
Crop Report of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for June 
1917 to be as follows: 

Acreage of cantaloups 17,300 

Products in crates 3,206,700 

Of this acreage and product, which comprises about 9000 car- 
loads, three-fourths are credited to the Imperial valley and one- 
fourth to the San Joaquin valley. California produces 41 per cent 
of all the cantaloups of the United States and leads all the states, 
her nearest rival being Georgia with 6700 acres. In watermelons, 
however, the situation is reversed and Georgia leads the country 
by a large plurality in acreage and product. An ingenious statis- 
tician has figured out that California's total cantaloup crop can 
[206] 



MUSKMELONS AND CANTALOUPS 207 

supply every individual in the United States with one melon each, 
leaving fifteen more for each Californian. 

THE MUSKMELON. 

In the United States the terms "muskmelon" and "cantaloup" 
are interchangeable, and in California cantaloup is given the prefer- 
ence. This all seems somewhat at variance with European practice, 
where the varieties with netted coats are "muskmelons" and those 
with scabby or knobby skins are "rock melons" or cantaloups. Ac- 
cording to this classification, the varieties we chiefly grow in Cali- 
fornia are not cantaloups at all, but it will be difificult to have them 
called by any other name. Of the many types of cantaloups which 
have been defined by students of melon classification a single one, 
known as the Rocky Ford, from the place of its first large com- 
mercial development in Colorado, dominates all others, constituting 
almost exclusively the commercial production except that which is 
especially grown for local markets — aside, of course, from the 
winter melons, which are a distinct class, as will be noted later. 

The muskmelon has a very wide range in California. It has 
greater taste for dry heat than its relative, the cucumber, but in 
this respect it is no rival of the watermelon, for it will perish utterly 
under drought which the watermelon will survive. Where the musk- 
melon has both heat and moisture, and is of large variety, it grows 
riotously, for a weight of seventy-two pounds has been reported 
from Fresno. But the muskmelon will not brook frost, nor will it 
thrive with low temperatures even if they are considerably above 
freezing. As has just been stated, however, California has such 
a long frost-free period and as degrees of favoring heat arrive in 
different months in different parts of the state, there is wide diverg- 
ence in dates of planting and of ripening of the crop. The earliest 
cantaloup district is the Coachella and Imperial valleys in the ex- 
treme southeast corner of the state, where 12,700 acres were grown 
in 1917. Planting is done in February, and the crop shipment 
begins in May and reaches the eastern markets in advance of the 
product of Colorado and other interior states. In the San Joaquin 
valley planting may be in April and the product follows the Rocky 
Ford shipments for the later summer trade of the Atlantic cities. 
Just what trade can be profitably done at different dates in the East 
is not fully determined, but the advantage of the very early canta- 
loup from California seems unquestioned. It is clear, however, 
that by choosing different parts of the state and different varieties 
of cantaloups, including the "winter melon" class, California can 
furnish the fruit from May to December in any quantities the 
available price makes profitable. 

Garden Culture. — The soil requirements of the muskmelon are 
quite like those already described for the cucumber. Most of the 
commercial crop is produced on deep, rich, warm loams, but heavier 
soils with good culture may be used. Some varieties seem to enjoy 



208 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

a heavy soil better than others. Preparation of the soil is the same 
as for cucumbers, and the same methods for starting plants for 
planting out as well as for furnishing warmth and richness in the 
hill may be used in garden practice. Growing groups of seedlings 
in small receptacles for planting out in hills without disturbing the 
roots, as described in Chapter XI, is a good way to get an early 
start. In the interior, on the naturally rich loams, not only is the 
culture devoid of all forcing devices, but on moist river bank or 
bottom soils the early crop is sometimes grown without irrigation. 
For summer planting and the continuation of the muskmelon supply 
late in the fall, ample moisture is necessary, and a modification of 
interior heat by intrusion of coast breezes is desirable. The late 
summer product is most easily grown in the coast valleys, somewhat 
protected from ocean winds. 

FIELD CULTURE OF CANTALOUPS, 

There are so many ways of handling the soil to secure fine 
tillage and aeration and adequate moisture without the evil of sur- 
face flooding that it can be hardly claimed that any one routine is 
best. As involving tillage, irrigation by percolation and fertiliza- 
tion, which the plant enjoys under proper conditions, the following 
outline, condensed from the writings of Dr. R. H. Forbes, of the 
Arizona Station, is very suggestive for California interior valley 
conditions. The writer has made some additions from his own 
observations : Cantaloups are grown to excellent advantage on Hght 
warm loams properly fertilized by the addition of the organic mat- 
ter and nitrogen in which our desert soils are usually deficient. 
Heavy soils may also be used for cantaloup culture, but are less 
easily prepared and tilled during the progress of the crop. Old 
alfalfa ground is most excellent for cantaloup culture, and well- 
rotted barnyard manure is effective. Bermuda sod plowed up and 
exposed to the sun without irrigation the preceding summer makes 
excellent cantaloup ground, the intensive cultivation necessary serv- 
ing both to benefit the crop and to restrain this formidable weed. 
Trash from sod-turning can be reduced by the use of a disk. 

Alkaline lands should be avoided, since soluble salts in excess, 
even though insufficient to kill the plants, are commonly believed 
to be detrimental to the quality of the melons. 

The land should be so laid out that the rows may be irrigated 
without submerging the vines and the fruit. One good way to ac- 
complish this, and also to fertilize the soil, is as follows : The field 
is first irrigated, plowed and harrowed to a condition of fine tilth. 
With a 12-inch plow, at intervals of six feet, double furrows are 
then broken out, going and returning along the same lines. In the 
deep, wide furrows thus formed well-rotted barnyard manure is 
distributed to a depth of three or four inches, then plowed in and 
the field again harrowed level. By then plowing toward the mid- 
dle of the spaces between the fertilized furrows, the soil is finally 



IRRIGATION OF CANTALOUPS 209 

left in oval ridges separated by back furrows for irrigation. The 
rough furrows and ridges are then finished with a harrow and the 
newly prepared ground irrigated to establish the water line for 
guidance in planting. 

Seed should be most carefully selected with reference to flavor 
and appearance of the fruit; to good shipping characters, includ- 
ing small cavities and heavy netting; and to a tendency to produce 
melons of standard size. About one pound of seed is required for 
an acre. Cantaloup seed improves to some extent with time, and 
is stated by experienced growers to give more satisfaction at two 
years of age than at one. 

With irrigating furrows six feet apart, rows may be planted 
one on each side of each furrow. The hills should be ten feet 
apart in the rows, "breaking spaces"' between rows. On this plan 
the ground will be quite uniformly occupied, with a distance of 
about six feet between adjacent hills. Where winds are strong 
and prevalently in one direction it is sometimes desirable to lay ofif 
the lands at right angles to the course of the wind and plant all 
the hills on the windward side of each strip so that the vines are 
trained by the wind away from the ditch and not half of them 
blown into it. 

With a hoe each hill is planted by making a small furrow a 
foot long just above the water line, made by the preceding irriga- 
tion which places the hill where it will not be flooded by later irri- 
gation. About ten seeds are dropped in this furrow, covered an 
inch deep, and the soil pressed down lightly with the blade of the 
hoe. After early plantings, when frosts are feared, a second set 
of hills may be planted alongside the first, ten days or two weeks 
later. When danger from frost is past, while the plants are still 
small they are thinned to one or two of the strongest to each hill. 
Care must be taken not to overcrowd the ground with vines, as a 
high percentage of small melons will follow. Under Arizona con- 
ditions the six-foot spacing of hills recommended above, wdth not 
more than two plants in the hill, gives best results. 

A dependable supply of irrigating water is essential to success- 
ful cantaloup culture in regions of little rain. Early in the season 
when the plants are small and the irrigating supply is cold, water 
should be applied sparingly. But between the setting of the crop 
and the ripening of the first fruits, when both vines and melons are 
developing rapidly and when the weather is usually hot and dry, fre- 
quent and copious irrigation is necessary, for if water is stinted at 
this time a larger percentage of small or pony melons is likely to 
follow. To prevent this, even during the picking season, water 
should again be sparingly applied — just enough to prevent the vines 
from wilting. This also gives quality and solidity to the melons. 

As long as the vines will permit, the middles should be kept 
free of weeds by means of a one-horse cultivator, and the furrows 
run through with a small plow after each irrigation. The young 



210 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

plants should also be hoed by hand two or three times. When the 
ground is once more covered with vines weeds will make but little 
headway, even Bermuda grass being effectually checked by the 
dense cover. 

Imperial Valley Methods. — Alfalfa land is preferred. It is first 
plowed three or four inches deep, then about a month later is 
plowed seven or eight inches deep. The "hard" finely divided 
"gumbo" soil may produce larger crops if properly worked; but 
the "soft" land in which more or less sand makes it more loamy 
and warm, produces the earliest. 

Wide rounded ridges about eight feet from center to center 
are made with narrow furrows between. The seed is planted half 
way up one side of each of these. This puts the roots close to 
irrigation but keeps the plants out of it largely, and spreads them 
out to sun and air. On the early plantings, some of which are put 
in late in December and early in January, a pointed cap of oiled 
paper is placed over each hill as it is planted by hand to hold the 
warmth of the ground and protect the seedling plants from frost. 
Later plantings are done by machine and not covered with the 
papers. 

The cantaloups are irrigated according to soil conditions. The 
ground must not be dried very deep. In hot weather it dries enough 
to walk on in the day. Water is not allowed to cover the seeds or 
get around the plant stems. During picking especially, water is 
applied every three or four days, the pickers walking on the ridges 
when the furrows are wet. 

Three or four cultivations are all that can be given on account 
of vine growth. To control aphis burn the plants on and all around 
an infected area as soon as it is discovered, usually during pick- 
ing time. 

Turlock Methods — Early in January the land is plowed eleven 
or twelve inches deep to get a soil reservoir for winter rains and 
to turn under the manure, which is applied thinly all over rather 
than heavily on a part each season. Strawy manure is likely to 
"burn out the ground" in this sandy soil and should be worked in 
well and deep. The next plowing is six or seven inches deep early 
in March, just before planting time, which is about March IS if the 
soil is warm and the rains over. If rains crust the soil it must be 
broken with a light spike harrow even if some plants are injured. 

It is customary to omit every ninth row for a driveway for con- 
venience in picking season, but it may be better to plant all rows 
and break driveways crosswise with a harrow, just far enough 
apart, about 10 rods, so that a picker commencing at one drive 
would pick a row and arrive at the next drive with his sack full. 
It would be dumped there, and he would proceed on across the 
field. In the old way the pickers climb over several rows to un- 
load into crates in the drive. This damaged the vines, reduced the 
later settings of melons, and wasted the picker's time. 



WAYS WITH CANTALOUPS 211 

Much seed is sprouted before planting but care must be taken 
not to start long sprouts. The seed are put in a sack, soaked about 
12 hours, flattened out not over an inch thick so they won't over- 
heat, and buried in sand. They sprout in two or three days, de- 
pending on the heat, and must be planted at once. The field is har- 
rowed two or three times before the plants are up. 

Seeds are planted by machine thickly in drills six feet apart. 
If plants are very thick, they are thinned with a hoe as soon as they 
come up; but later if not so thick. The final thinning comes about 
June 1, when the vines average a foot long, showing which are 
strongest. These are left as nearly as convenient three feet apart. 

If continued cultivation does not keep the vines growing, they 
need water. This is given through a furrow in each center. Plenty 
of time is allowed for a thorough soaking, but no water is allowed 
to touch the plants, because that would bake the soil around them. 
Several rows may be irrigated at once with a small stream. Within 
two or three days the ground is cultivated. One such irrigation and 
two cultivations may be given before the vines run into the way. 

Growing Plants in Hot-beds. — Some growers think that grow- 
ing plants in hot-beds to get a good stand is worth while. In one 
case there were only forty hills missed in more than six acres. 
Thrifty growth was made and some plants in bloom while plants 
from seed on the same ground were just coming up from planting 
on the same date. Small pasteboard folding cases were used to 
grow the plants in and the case removed when the plant was in 
place, just before filling in around it. 

Pruning for Early Fruit. — J. E. Johnson, of Los Angeles county, 
believes he can ripen cantaloups a week or ten days earlier by prun- 
ing. He prunes the tips off with a corn knife when the vines are 
five or six joints long. This makes them throw earlier laterals 
which bear fruit. When the laterals have grown a joint or two 
beyond the fruit of the first crop which will already have set, he 
prunes off their tips with a quick sweep of the corn knife around 
the hill. It does not pay to prune for the second crop, which would 
have to compete with the general first-crop run from unpruned 
fields. 

Cantaloups in Young Orchard. — H. S. Reed, of Imperial, thinks 
cantaloups are one of the very best summer intercrops. They shade 
the ground, and the frequent irrigation they require is good also 
for the trees. He took off 228 crates of cantaloups per acre when 
the trees were one and two years old, and followed them with a 
winter crop of Bermuda onions. Of these he got 240 crates per 
acre, which sold at $1.40 to $1.55 per crate. The winter crop would 
be feasible many years, but summer crops would soon suffer from 
too much shade from the growing trees. 

How to Tell a Ripe Cantaloup. — The fruit is ripe for shipping 
when there are cracks about the base of the stem, which comes off 
with a Httle pressure of the thumb, leaving a smooth "cup" in the 



212 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

melon. If too green, sharp pieces of the stem will remain in the 
cup. The netting on an unripe melon is flattened, but when it has 
sugared up and ripened enough the netting will be full rounded 
clear up to the stem if there is any netting that far. 

Varieties. — The wonderful advancement of the cantaloup as a 
commercial product has quickened effort for new varieties and given 
new incentive to sharp selection to secure characters likely to facili- 
tate long shipment or to increase the demand. Relatively small size, 
symmetrical form, thickness of flesh and reduction of the seed- 
cavity, durability, flavor and color of flesh are among the improve- 
ments which have been diligently sought. Each year brings for- 
ward something new and worthy of trial to determine local be- 
havior and suitability. Obviously a book which aims to be useful 
for a number of years after its publication cannot satisfactorily 
serve as a guide to choice of varieties which are constantly chang- 
ing. Annual catalogues of California seedsmen should be carefully 
consulted and promising novelties should be tried on a small scale. 

Rocky Ford : The variety upon which the Colorado cantaloup industry 
was established and it sustains the same relation to the commercial product 
of California; developed by selection from the old "Netted Gem"; slightly 
oval, finely netted, average weight 1^ pounds; flesh green, thick and very 
sweet. Continued selection is being practiced upon this variety and "Netted 
Rock" has been favored in this state on the claim of heavy bearing and 
greater average production of standard melons. In the Turlock district 
"Pollock's 25 Rust Resistant" is chiefly grown. This is also grown in 
Imperial valley with "Yellow Pink" and "Greenflesh" also in favor, which 
are standard varieties in the valley. 

Burrell's Gem : Larger than Rocky Ford ; flesh reddish and of different 
flavor ; an improved Paul Rose, which it has largely displaced. 

Hoodoo : slightly flatter than Rocky Ford but otherwise similar ; flesh 
reddish. 

Large Yellow : an old variety, large oblong, slightly ribbed and coarsely 
netted; flesh light, yellowish green; quality excellent; still popular though 
very different from modern commercial types. 

California Large Nutmeg: an old variety still popular in local markets 
and good for shipping; large, rough, netted skin; flesh thick, solid, dark 
green ; flavor delicate. 

Monteral Improved Green Nutmeg : large, slightly flattened at the poles, 
densely netted skin, flesh thick and of good flavor. 

Early Hackensack: large size, productive, excellent flavor. 

Large Hackensack: large size, roundish, very prolific, thick, juicy flesh, 
rich in flavor. 

Tip Top : nearly round, lightly ribbed and netted, skin light and flesh 
deep yellow. 

The small, early varieties, like Jenny Lind, are not largely 
grown, as the trade prefers the large nutmeg varieties. The small 
varieties are, however, very desirable for home use. 

CASSABAS OR WINTER CANTALOUPS. 

One of the most interesting and promising phases of melon 
growing in California is the advancement of the "winter melon," 
comprising several types, of which the first to reach California was 



CALIFORNIA WINTER MELONS 213 

the Cassaba or pineapple melon which was introduced in two vari- 
eties: one by the late General Bidwell, of Chico, in 1869, and 
another by the late Dr. J. D. B. Stillman in 1878. Of these the 
latter has secured the greater popularity. Later introductions and 
selections and probably hybridizations also, have brought half a 
dozen quite distinct varieties into notice and a considerable product 
has been secured both for local sale and distant shipment during the 
late autumn and early winter. Which varieties will survive cannot 
be told and in this line California seedsmen's catalogues must be 
consulted each year, Mr. H. T. Musser, of Los Angeles, is the 
best informed Californian on this group of melons. On irrigated 
lands in frostless places these melons can be sown in mid-summer 
and find ample autumn heat and freedom from frost to reach per- 
fection. The ripe fruit remains in good condition for months with- 
out cold storage. They can be stored in the shade of a shed. Even 
if the exterior becomes ill-looking the flesh remains sound usually. 

Though these winter melons can be grown wherever other 
melons succeed, the chief commercial product comes from the 
Dinuba district on the east side of the San Joaquin valley and from 
Los Angeles and Orange counties. They are usually planted later 
than summer cantaloups, say in May and June, and are given a 
little wider spacing. 

The Golden Beauty and Winter Pineapple are late varieties 
which may be kept in storage until February, These do not ma- 
ture as early as the hybrids with the summer cantaloups of which 
there are a number. The Honey Dew is getting famous for fine 
grain and good flavor. Good eating condition in cassabas is shown 
by slight yielding under thumb pressure. 

THE WATERMELON. 

The watermelon is more strictly a warm region plant than the 
muskmelon. It reaches great size and sweetness in interior regions 
of highest heat, coming nearer to the coast in southern California 
than in the upper part of the state. The heat is, however, high 
enough in some of the coast valleys and foothills, which are in 
some part separated from the coast by high ranges, to produce a 
very good watermelon. 

The gratefulness of the interior climate of California to the 
watermelon is seen in the way the plants volunteer wherever on 
cultivated land a melon may have gone to decay. In cultivated 
orchard they may almost be called weeds, though sometimes the 
volunteer crop is turned to account. A case is cited where water- 
melons were planted between the trees in a young orchard. After the 
melons were harvested, and before the volunteer crop appeared the 
following year, the ground was plowed twice, harrowed twice, and 
cultivated four times in the regular course of orchard work. Not- 
withstanding all this disturbance of the soil, the seeds, which re- 
mained in the ground during the warm rains of winter and spring. 



214 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

did not sprout until June — considerably later than seed sown that 
year, and produced as good a crop as the latter. Being, probably, 
deeply covered they awaited the penetration of the warmth, which 
came first to the seed sown near the surface. The soil was a light 
loam, naturally well drained, and the seed abided its time in good 
condition. 

Soils. — Soils which best suit the watermelon are warm alluvial 
soils, and the plant thrives on a lighter, drier soil than suits the 
muskmelon. It does well on a light soil with a retentive sub-soil, 
which acts as a reservoir of moisture. In such a case the surface 
soil may be coarse or even gravelly. Good specimens have been 
shown which have been grown without irrigation on recent deposits 
of mining detritus ; on the other hand, good melons are grown on 
rather stiff clay loam. On heavy land much is gained by plowing 
under a winter-grown sod or green crop, or a covering of manure, 
which renders the soil more permeable as well as enriches it. The 
plant seems to tolerate many conditions, but neither cold nor wet 
agrees with it. 

Culture. — The preparation of land for watermelons is like that 
for cantaloups, already described. In regions of heavy rainfall the 
fall plowing should be done with enough dead furrows to remove 
surplus water so that the spring plowing may not be delayed by 
wetness. Two spring plowings and pulverizations are desirable on 
the heavier soils. 

Firming the seed-bed below the plant is very important so that 
moisture may rise to it from the subsoil. This is done by follow- 
ing the January or February plowing with a disc with the plates set 
straight and weighted with sand bags to make them cut deep and 
to close all underground openings. This is done twice in winter 
and is followed through the spring with spiketooth harrows and 
weed cutters, often alternately, to make a fine mulch about three 
inches deep over the firm capillary seed-bed, soil from which will 
ball in the hand, while without this sub-surface packing, the soil 
will be dry all the way down. If the soil is sandy and inclined to 
blow the surface must not be made too fine. Wind damage can 
be reduced by sowing rye in strips about forty feet apart — planting 
four rows of melons between them. Such protection from cold 
winds may bring ripe melons a week earlier. The rye strips make 
driveways for picking. They should be plowed up, when the rye 
ripens in May, to check evaporation. The melon roots extend into 
the rye ground if it is not allowed to dry out too much. 

Irrigation. — Watermelons root deeply and on deep open soils 
free from plow-pan or hard-pan will supply themselves with moist- 
ure from below if the soil preparation has been of the right kind 
and the rainfall adequate. If not, irrigation must be employed in 
good soaking amounts, on light soil which takes them well, and not 
too frequently. 



GROWING WATERMELONS 215 

Tlie land is laid off with a marker in eight or ten feet squares 
or six by eight and eight by ten feet, and planted, after danger from 
frost is over and the ground is warm, with 10 or 12 seeds in a 
place to cover accidents and insects. These are reduced at the first 
hoeing to one or two plants in a place. The cultivator should be 
used as soon as possible to prevent crusting of the soil, and cultiva- 
tion should be kept up until it interferes too much with the growth 
of the vines. During the first two months of their growth the cul- 
tivator is almost constantly running in the melon field. 

Time of planting is, of course, dependent upon the frost record 
of the locality. To get the earliest melons, growers often take the 
chance of replanting by planting in March if it is an early spring 
and the soil is in good condition. In light interior soils the most 
of the planting is done in April, and in frosty situations early in 
May. For succession, planting can proceed on moist or irrigated 
land until July, and in f rostless locations July planting will give ripe 
melons as late as New Year's. 

Harvesting. — When early sowings succeed, melons can be had 
in June in the interior, but the weight of the crop comes in July or 
August. An average yield in field culture is one carload, or one 
hundred dozen melons to the acre. Sizes run from a common mer- 
chantable size of 20 pounds up to a monster of 131% pounds, 
grown in Los Angeles county many years ago. Melons of 90 to 100 
pounds have been reported from all regions which make any pre- 
tentions to greatness in this line. 

When is a Watermelon Ripe? — Various tests are proposed. 
One is the color of the curling tendril on the vine opposite the stem. 
When this becomes brown and hard the melon is ripe. The same 
is said to be the case when the white under-color becomes yellowish. 
But we have the assurance of commercial growers that by thump- 
ing a melon or looking at the curl anybody stands a good chance to 
pick it green, except after it is dead ripe, which is too late to ship 
it. But when you slap a ripe melon with the open hand, or catch 
it as it is tossed from man to man by car loaders, if it springs un- 
der the hand it is ripe. If it is hard and does not give, it is green. 
If it gives out a dead, hollow sound, it is dead ripe. Most of the 
varieties turn a lighter color when ripe and develop irregular, 
slight creasing of the rind. 

Stock Melons. — Excess crop or defective watermelons and can- 
taloups are freely used for stock feeding. There is also especially 
grown for stock the pie-melon or citron-melon, which is sometimes 
called a "citron." This word should, however, never be used in this 
state without the suffix "melon," because the citron is an ancient 
and honorable citrus fruit, which we are growing on trees. The 
name of this fruit was probably connected with a melon because 
in cold countries they make a preserve of the rind which has a 
fancied resemblance to the citron of commerce which is made of 
the skin of the fruit. 



216 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Citron melons are of low nutritive value but serve a good pur- 
pose. In one hundred pounds of them there are 0.7 of one pound 
of digestible protein, 3.3 pounds of digestible carbohydrates and 
0.2 pound fat, which, giving a true value to the fat, means 4.5 
pounds of nutrients. Alfalfa hay contains approximately 53 pounds 
of nutrients to the one hundred pounds, counting the fat in the 
same way, making the alfalfa about twelve times as good, weight 
for weight. However, an added benefit to the citron melons comes 
in the fact that they are a succulent food and have an excellent 
physiological effect aside merely from the food content. This suc- 
culency makes it very good with alfalfa hay or bean straw, with 
which it makes a balanced ration. Rotten melons are, however, 
dangerous to stock. Probably much of the evil attributed to melons 
is due to this fact. 

Watermelon Varieties. — Everything offered by seedsmen in the 
form of an improved watermelon is quickly put into California soil. 
The result is that in the state as a whole very many varieties are 
grown, probably as many as of any single garden plant. Still, a few 
varieties are easily leading in popularity. The following have com- 
mended themselves to California growers: 

Angeleno: believed to be of California origin; dark green, roundish, 
bright red flesh, thin rind; excellent shipper and largely grown. Seed must 
be soaked to close cracks before planting. Standard variety white seeded 
but selections with black and brown seeds are being introduced; long bearer, 
apt to be busy until frost. 

Florida Favorite: large, oblong, deep green, mottled; good flavor and 
a good midseason variety and a good shipper. 

Fordhook Early: very early, medium size, globular, tough, deep mottled 
green rind, red flesh; good for early shipping. 

Cuban Queen: large, symmetrical, solid, rind thin and strong, striped 
with dark and light green, flesh red, tender and very sweet, vine very strong 
in growth and productive. Melons keep well and ship well. 

Kolb Gem : round, dark green, witli light green stripes, which are nar- 
row and of dull color, fair size, flesh bright red and good flavor, tough rind 
and a good shipper. 

Iceberg : like Kolb Gem, but darker green and flesh deep red ; a good 
shipper. 

Southern Rattlesnake: oblong, light green, beautifully striped, thin rind, 
flesh scarlet, solid and very sweet. 

Lodi : large, solid, light green, flesh deep red, rich and delicious, and 
extending to within half an inch of the rind. For many years this variety 
almost controlled California markets but is now but little grown. 

Chilian : oblong, deep green, mottled and striped, flesh bright red, sweet 
and high quality; good for home use because of thin, brittle rind. 

Kleckley Sweet : medium sized, oval, dark green, flesh bright red, high 
quality, largely grown for home use and shipping. 

Ice Cream : very large, long, solid deep green, flesh yellow. 

Excel : newly introduced and making a record for size and large yield, 
both in southern and central California, and promising for long shipment; 
early ripening. 

Tom Watson : dark green mottled ; oblong, flesh scarlet, thick core ; apt 
to be over-large ; rather late. 

Klondike : high quality, thin rind and very tender flesh ; chiefly grown 
in southern California and very popular in local trade, also held to be a 
good shipper ; very small seed. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
THE ONION FAMILY. 

Onion. — Allium cepa. 
French, ognon; German, zwiebel; Dutch, uijen; Danish, voglog; Italian, 
cipolla; Spanish, cebolla; Portuguese, cebola. 

Leek. — Allmm porrum. 
French, poireau; German, lauch; Dutch, prei; Danish, porre; Italian, 
porro; Spanish, puerro; Portuguese, alho porro. 

Garlic . — A lliii w i sa tivu m . 

French, ail; German, knoblauch; Dutch, knoflook; Danish, hvidlog; 
Italian, aglio; Spanish, ajo; Portuguese, alho. 

Chives. — Allium schoenoprasum. 
French, ciboulette, civette ; German, schnittlauch ; Dutch, bieslook ; Ital- 
ian, cipollina; Spanish, ceboUino. 

CiBOULE. — A Ilium fistulosum. 
French, ciboule ; German, schnitt-zwiebel ; Dutch, bieslook ; Danish, pur- 
log ; Italian, cipolleta ; Spanish, cebolleta ; Portuguese, cebolinah. 

Shallot. — Allium ascalonicum. 
French, echalote; German, schalotte; Dutch, sjalot; Danish, skalottelog; 
ItaHan, scalogno; Spanish, chalote; Portuguese, echalota. 

The onion is another of the great vegetables in Cahfornia — 
great in the size of the tubers and in the crop, great also in the 
ease with which a constant supply of fresh onions can be secured 
throughout the year in the open air; greater still, perhaps, in the 
fact that the superb local conditions for onion-seed growing have 
given California almost the monopoly of the onion-seed trade of the 
United States, and we have sometimes produced more seed than 
could be sold with profit to the growers. Though the local con- 
sumption of onions, in proportion to the population, is large, and 
though there is an export trade in all directions, there is now and 
then an over-production and a reaction even to scarcity, so that 
the market price is subject to wide fluctuations. A more trust- 
worthy demand would develop a producing capacity which has thus 
far hardly been entered upon although during recent years distant 
shipment of onions has notably increased. And yet this is a mat- 
ter in which great expectations may not be realized. In 1917, be- 
cause of a great shipping demand owing to a partial failure of the 
eastern crop of 1916 and to great exhortation to produce war foods, 
California onion acreage was increased to 13,000 acres against 6100 
acres in 1916. From an extreme high of $12 per ctl. in March, 
1917, the price broke to $0.75 in July and much disappointment re- 
sulted. Even without war issues onions are subject to wide fluctua- 

[217] 



218 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

tion as the price per ctl. in San Francisco for each month for the 
decade 1907 to 1916 shows, as follows: 

Average Average Actual Actual 

Month Lowr High Low High 

January $1.14 $1.37 $0.40 $2.60 

February 1.64 1.93 .50 3.50 

March 1.73 2.02 .50 3.40 

April 2.03 2.80 .50 4.00 

May 2.00 2.83 .50 5.00 

June 1.22 1.90 .60 3.75 

July 1.24 1.65 .25 4.25 

August 98 1.14 .35 2.60 

September 84 .97 .40 2.50 

October 84 .98 .40 2.00 

November 1.08 1.19 .40 3.00 

December 1.19 1.42 .25 3.25 

Though wide fluctuations and producing dangers are thus 
shown, well planned enterprise to produce early onions to fill out 
the eastern spring supply is warranted in places where the crop 
comes early. About 1000 carloads of the Bermuda type of onions 
are annually shipped to interstate markets, principally from Coa- 
chella and Imperial valleys. These onions move from April to 
July. The total onion product of the state for the last few years 
has been about 3,500,000 bushels from about 8000 acres. 

Though local conditions are favorable, and almost incredible 
returns are sometimes secured, onion growing is exacting in its re- 
quirements in California, as everywhere, and the crop is one which 
no one should undertake without adequate resources of energy, 
patience, promptness and elasticity — either in his back or in his 
pocketbook. No matter how well suited his soil, or how good his 
stand of young plants upon it, a few days' neglect may put them out 
of sight in a forest of weeds, from which they cannot be profitably 
rescued. Still, to the diligent grower who can command suitable 
soil and the labor needed at a certain time, and is prompt and per- 
sistent in the use of it, there is always the promise of as fair a crop 
as man needs to see, for the climate not only favors growth, ma- 
turing and harvesting, but it gives the plant freedom from many 
pests and diseases, which are grievous in other countries. 

Situations and Soils. — The onion is profited by a long growing 
season. It grows most luxuriantly and its bulb expands most freely 
in a moderate temperature and with a good moisture supply. It 
endures heat well, if moisture is ample; it is easily forced into 
maturity by drought, and though it is fortunate in some respects, 
that the bulb has the power to renew its growth and reach full size 
with the renewal of moisture, this is little consolation to the grower 
who aimed at a crop of marketable onions, not of onion sets. It is 
important, then, that the growth of the plant be not arrested in this 
way, and, to assure this, moisture must be adequate until satis- 
factory size is attained. Land naturally moist, or in which a good 



CALIFORNIA ONION GROWING 219 

supply may be retained by cultivation, or for which irrigation is 
available to counteract natural tendency to dryness, is necessary for 
the full success of the onion as a mature crop. In the winter, if 
rains are up to the average, very good growth of green onions can 
be had on land which is too dry in summer to carry the bulb to full- 
sized maturity. For satisfactory summer finishing of the crop, soils 
which are prone to dry out must be avoided, unless irrigation is 
available. How this matter is affected by methods of propagation 
will appear presently. 

If the needed moisture can be afforded, onions can be well 
grown on a variety of soils. Quite heavy adobe can be made to do, 
but it will be at the cost of much thorough cultivation, producing 
tilth which is difficult and expensive to attain on such soil. Every 
addition of sand or silt to the adobe improves it in this respect, and 
the ideal soil for the onion is one which is retentive enough under 
cultivation to keep the plant roots from a touch of drought, and 
friable enough to be easy in cultivation and easy also for the ex- 
panding bulb to displace as it grows. The bulb should expand on 
the ground surface, not under it, and it is very difificult to secure 
this on a clay without baking of the surface, which dries the roots 
and results in prematurity and small size in the bulb. On the other 
hand, sandy soil is usable only at a cost of frequent irrigation, for 
it also loses surface moisture in spite of stirring. Besides suitable 
mechanical condition of the soil, it is essential that it shall be rich 
in plant food. Onions resent a poor soil. Fortunately California 
has large areas of loam, of mixed peat and sediment, and of allu- 
vial soils, which are so rich that many onion crops can be grown 
without fertilizing, but in garden work the free use of manure is 
the secret of quick, tender and large size, both in the green and 
mature onion. But the use of fresh manure just before planting is 
not desirable, and even well-rotted manure should be applied several 
months in advance of planting, that it may become thoroughly in- 
corporated with the soil. 

The great onion regions of the state are the lower stretches of 
the rich coast valley, the moist river lands in the interior, and 
the winter crop in the so-called "desert" lands of the Coachella and 
Imperial valleys, where the crop is grown by irrigation. Other- 
wise onions are grown largely by rainfall and natural seepage. Fine 
onions are also grown on upland loams, with or without irrigation, 
according to local climatic conditions. All these classes of lands 
occur in large areas throughout the state. 

Propagation of the Onion. — The onion is grown here, as else- 
where, by three main lines of propagation : from seed sown in the 
field, from transplanting seedlings and from sets. The last is by 
far the least important in California, and the choice between the 
other two depends upon the special end in view, as will appear in 
the discussion of them. 



220 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The Crop from Seed. — In this case the growth is to be pushed 
continuously on the same ground from seed to sack. The main 
crop is grown in this way, and for this method Cahfornia has mani- 
fest advantage in its long growing season. The winter-grown crop 
for early spring and early summer sale is started in October and 
November on land deeply moistened by irrigation or fall rains, and 
for the fall or main crop seed may be sown as early as February 
for the onion is hardy against our valley frosts. The winter-started 
crop on retentive soils is carried through with moisture held by 
summer cultivation, or on coarser soils by irrigation and cultivation, 
until the bulbs reach as large a size as is desirable for marketing. 

For seed-sowing the land should be as deeply and thoroughly 
prepared as has already been prescribed for sugar beets. The work 
should begin with fall plowing to open the surface for absorption 
of rainfall, to be followed later by a deep cross-plowing to fully 
turn in the crop of weeds and grass which will come with moisture. 
After that a shallow plowing or cultivation may be given to kill 
later growth of weeds and to contribute to surface pulverization. 
The seed should be sown when the advance of the season warms 
the soil. The precise date depends upon two considerations: first, 
the local rainfall, and second, the local weed growth. Where spring 
rains are usually light, earlier sowing is best; where spring rains 
are usually generous and where weed growth is great, it is often 
wise to defer sowing and use the cultivator for weed-killinsf, so that 
the ground may be as clean as possible before the seed is sown. 
Weeding onions is one of the most expensive and tiresome of all 
field practices, and it is good policy, where moisture is ample, to 
sow much later in the spring for the advantage of securing cleaner 
land, as well as to prevent the growth of "thick-necks" or scallions, 
which, though edible, are not good keepers and do not sell well. 
Each locality has its own policy in sowing onions, which can be 
learned by conference with experienced growers. 

When the sowing time comes be sure the land is fined well. 
Use nothing- but the freshest seed from responsible dealers ; mark 
out a straight line for beginning and sow the seed with a seeder 
with a guide so that the straightness of the first row mav be fol- 
lowed in the others. If the rows begin to vary from this, strike 
another straight line and proceed again from this. Distance between 
the rows depends upon the method of cultivation to be adopted ; 
some are grown with two feet distance and horse cultivation is 
used, but most growers choose a distance of twelve to sixteen inches 
and use hand cultivation. The hand hoes, or cultivators with wheels, 
work very easily and rapidly in light soils. Care must be taken to 
work them deeply enough to produce a good soil mulch. 

Depth of covering depends upon season, moisture and char- 
acter of soil, as explained in Chapter XI. With onions the depth 
would vary from one-half an inch on heavy soil to one inch on 
light, or slightly more on light soil in a dry locality, is about the 



TRANSPLANTING ONIONS 221 

range. The seeder should be set to drop the seeds about three- 
quarters of an inch apart in the drill, which will use from four to 
five pounds to the acre. After sowing, the ground can be firmed 
in any of the ways mentioned in Chapter XL A light roller is most 
expeditious and satisfactory if the soil is in the right condition of 
moisture. 

Onion seed is sometimes rather slow in starting and the culti- 
vation should not wait until the plants appear. Mr. S. J. Murdock, 
of Orange county, shows how skillfully the hand wheel hoe can be 
used in the onion field : 

After seeding, thorough, shallow cultivation is essential. D'o not wait 
until the plants are up before beginning; from four to eight days will be 
proper, or when the seed begins to show signs of germinating, which can be 
ascertained by carefully brushing the soil from the drill row. I put the 
curved hoes on my wheel hoe, with the straight ends of the hoes pointing 
inwards and lapping about two inches and hoe right over the rows but not 
deep enough to disturb the seed. It saves a great amount of hand-weeding 
by killing the weeds just starting to grow in the rows. As soon as the onions 
are up sufficiently to follow the rows, I reverse my hoes, with the curved 
ends next to the rows, just far enough apart so as to hoe as close as possible 
without cutting the young plants by running the hoes astride the rows. This 
operation hoes both sides of the row at one trip of the machine. Follow this 
by hand-weeding; this operation is best performed by the crawling process, 
that is, by getting down on hands and knees astride of a row and pulHng 
every weed in sight, and loosening the soil around and between the plants. 
Repeat this as often as any weeds are to be found, and under no circum- 
stances allow the weeds to grow above the onions ; at the same time keep 
the wheel hoe at work between the rows and as close as possible. 

It is desirable to use plenty of seed in field sowing. Soine- 
times it is possible to make something from the young onions while 
thinning the plants to about four inches apart to the rows, but 
usually the thinning is done before the plants get the proper size 
for "top onions." 

As previously said, the bulb of the onion should be at the 
ground surface, and the dirt should not be thrown to any extent 
on the onions by cultivation. The roots should be well covered, but 
not the bulb. Practically all onions are grown by flat cultivation. 
Even when started in furrow banks, etc., the soil is usually leveled 
by subsequent cultivation. 

Transplanted Onions. — Next to growth from the seed, the 
transplanting of small seedlings from the seed-bed to the field, is 
most practiced in California. This method has recently been pro- 
claimed in the Eastern and Southern States as a "new onion cul- 
ture," but it is really an old practice in the south of Europe, and 
has been followed in California for a third of a century or more 
in preference to starting from onion sets. It is a fact that trans- 
planting produces more uniformly large onions than growth from 
the seed in place, and the crop also reaches maturity sooner, as the 
transplanting does not sacrifice the time gained by the earlier start 
in the seed-bed. Employing these two points of advantage in a 



222 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

region suitable to quick winter growth, a very early crop of mature 
onions is secured, which sometimes strikes a bare market and is 
very profitable, while the regular crop, coming in later, may be 
worth much less. 

Seedlings for transplanting are grown in California in the open 
air, according to the conditions for germination described in Chap- 
ter XL Where there is hkelihood of heavy rains the raised bed 
described in Chapter VIII is a safeguard, but where the soil nat- 
urally drains well, or where rain is light, such arrangement is not 
necessary. Nor is it necessary that the culture should be very deep. 
The seed is started in the fall, when the rate of evaporation is re- 
duced. Shallow culture promotes early growth and, if the soil has 
been previously deeply moistened, there is no need of such deep 
work as would be desirable if the plant was to pursue its full course 
in that place. 

Some growers use a little bottom heat by covering in fresh 
horse manure with the plow and shallow working the surface into 
fine tilth. This practice is not essential. It is best suited to heavy- 
soil and ample moisture; it has an element of danger on light soil 
with scant moisture. The seed is sown at different times in dif- 
ferent localities from September to November — the early date in 
northern California, for the rains come earlier, the weather is cooler 
and the plants of slower growth. In the south a later start agrees 
better with the rainfall, and more rapid growth brings the seedlings 
to planting-size in less time. 

In the seed-bed the seed is usually thickly sown broadcast, 
lightly covered and rolled or pressed down. The surface is pro- 
tected from drying and from packing by heavy rain, with a light 
mulch of fine manure, covered with boards until the shoots appear, 
or covered with a single thickness of old sacking until the shoots 
begin to pierce it. Any device which keeps the surface moist and 
loose is applicable. The plants usually reach a height of six or 
eight inches at time for transplanting. 

Transplanting. — Transplanted onions are usually grown on 
lighter soils than those from seed because the crop is to mature 
earlier and is not so dependent upon moisture retention. Again 
the lighter, warmer soils give the most rapid winter growth, as 
already stated. Preparation of the land is the same as for seed 
sowing and the transplanting is done at about the same time of the 
year — from February onward, according to local climate and soil 
conditions. The plants are pulled, if the seed-bed is sandy, and they 
lift easily, or lifted with a shovel and separated. The top and 
roots are shortened about half the length of each, and the plants, 
dropped along the rows by boys, are set, with the finger or dibble, 
three inches apart in rows twelve inches distant, pressing the soil 
firmly around the plant. Planting can be done by line or by indi- 
cating it with a roller encircled by rope at proper distance or by 
marking out shallow furrows with the hand wheel hoe, etc. The 



CALIFORNIA ONION SETS 223 

lines must be straight for ease and efficiency of subsequent culti- 
vation, which must be clean and thorough. 

The cost of growing seedlings and transplanting is more than 
field seed-sowing, possibly about $25 per acre, but the weeding and 
cultivation of the former is less. If there is no particular rush 
about earliness, transplanting can be done after the most of the 
season's weed-starting is over. Some growers count this quite a 
gain. Transplanted onions will bottom more uniformly and give a 
better stand. 

Growing from Sets. — There are at least three kinds of onion 
sets : "top sets" or buttons which form on the seed stem in the 
place of the seed, according to variety; "bottom sets," which are 
either small bulbs from thickly sown seed, prematurely ripened, or 
small bulbs which form beside the old bulbs in some varieties. In 
California the varieties which habitually produce top or bottom sets 
in connection with stem or bulb (the so-called "tree onion" and 
"potato onion"), are not grown to any extent. They are inferior 
to other varieties which are satisfactory in this climate. All onion 
sets have the habit of proceeding with their enlargement when 
placed in moist ground, but some growers find that the bottom sets 
from seed are more Hkely to run to seed than top sets from the 
seed stem. Mr. Adams, of Potter valley, was in the habit of grow- 
ing his own top sets in this way : 

Plant the onions of the variety which produces top sets in the place of 
seed, eight or ten inches apart, with rows two feet apart ; cultivate well and 
gather the sets when the seed-stalks are ripe or perfectly yellow. Let the 
sets get well dried, then store in a cool, dry place six or eight inches deep 
on a board floor and cover with clean, dry straw. Never put them in sacks, 
boxes or barrels, as they will most surely mold. 

In growing onions from these top sets, I plant them as early in February 
as the ground is suitable, on the richest of my land; make the rows per- 
fectly straight by using a strong garden line ; make rows one foot apart ; 
press the sets firmly into the mellow soil nearly or quite out of sight, placing 
them an inch or so apart. When they are nicely up, a good top dressing of 
fine, dry, decomposed hen manure sown broadcast and well hoed in, is most 
excellent, especially just before a warm rain. A few weeks later a light 
dressing of ground bone, or unleached ashes, will forward them wonder- 
fully, and in a short time you will have onions fit for an epicure. Thin out 
as wanted for use, leaving space enough for those that remain to mature for 
winter use, or for the purpose of raising top sets for another year. 

To keep sets or old onions from going to seed when started to 
grow ; whenever a seed stem appears with pointed bud on top, cut 
it off close to the ground. The same onion never sends up two 
seed stems ; and if the sets have plenty of moisture, they will make 
big onions in the usual way after the seed stem is gone. Otherwise, 
they would all go to seed with no onion left at the bottom. The 
sprouted onions will (if the seed stems are kept cut out) make 
quite a quantity of smaller onions that are fair size to use, and 
keep well when stored for home use. 



224 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The foregoing is obviously for garden, not for field practice. 
In fact, for field work, sets of any kind are not used to any extent 
in California. 

Bottom sets from seed are grown by sowing the seed thickly, 
allowing the plants to grow without thinning, and to mature by the 
drying on the ground, when about the size of marbles. These are 
then pulled, dried thoroughly on the surface of the ground and are 
then stored in a cool, dry place until planted. 

Growing sets in California for planters in distant states is 
largely undertaken in Orange county, and one grower, G. A. Mur- 
dock, shipped one hundred and forty tons from thirty-five acres in 
1910. The sowing is timed to get a succession in the product. The 
early varieties, in 1911, began to be sown February 9th. Some- 
times the crop goes in as early as December and January. Follow- 
ing these comes the New Queen variety, which is followed by the 
Brown Australian. The planting continues till June and the har- 
vest of the late sown comes in the fall. The early sets are ready 
for shipment in June and July, and go mainly to Texas and Georgia. 
The handling of this business is described in this way: 

In preparing the sets for shipment the crop is first pulled and spread 
on racks prepared for that purpose, to be dried in the sun for three to five 
weeks. From the field the trays are hauled to the packing-house, where they 
are dumped into the hopper of a large circular separator, run by machinery, 
in which the tops are beaten off. In another machine, to which the onions 
and chaff are conveyed by an endless belt, the chaff is blown out. Thence 
the elevator takes the onions to the grading machine, which separates them 
into four classes according to size, and from which another elevator carries 
them upstairs, where a final sorting takes place. Here is a long row of 
machines before each of which an operator sits to inspect the sets as they 
pass along the carriage, while the defective sets are cast out. This double 
sorting ensures a high grade product. From here the onions drop back to 
the ground floor, where they are sacked and crated for shipment. The 
average per acre is close to four and one-half tons, while six and seven are 
frequent. 

Irrigation of Onions. — Though our onion crops are largely 
grown without irrigation, it is often desirable to use water to carry 
the summer growth to satisfactory size on coarse soils prone to dry 
out. Water can be applied by any of the methods described in the 
chapter on irrigation. Enough water should be used to secure 
thrifty, but not excessive growth, and stirring of the ground after 
irrigation should only be delayed long enough to bring the soil into 
proper working condition. 

Sometimes transplanting is done in connection with irrigation. 
The plants are properly trimmed and placed in the trenches along- 
side the irrigating furrows, on a slant to keep the tops from the 
wet ground (made so by applying the water). They will readily 
take root, when they may be straightened up by the hoe. Some- 
times the water may be passed through the trenches, when the 
plants may be put in place by hand when the soil is in proper 
condition. 




Photo Sacramento Co. Supervisor 

A glimpse at the heart of a California pepper plant.— Page 234. 



GARDEN CULTURE OF ONIONS 225 

Harvesting Onions. — In the maturing of the crop and the har- 
vesting Cahfornia has great advantage in a warm, dry summer and 
early fall. Mr. Murdock, of Orange county, gives these sugges- 
tions on harvesting: 

When the tops have turned yellow and dried or shriveled up near the 
bulbs, and the majority have fallen over, the crop is ripe and ready to har- 
vest. If on moist land they should be harvested at once, for if left long in 
the ground the moisture from below and heavy fogs of the coast region will 
soon cause them to start new roots, also a new growth of top, which would 
soon spoil the whole crop. On dry land, however, the summer crops can 
remain quite a while without injury. 

Harvesting is done by pulling two or more rows ; lay the onions next to 
the standing rows, and when across the plot, turn round and pull a like 
number of rows and lay with the ones previously pulled. This leaves them 
in a continuous pile across the field for topping, which is generally done with 
a sharp knife after the onions have laid a few days to more fully mature. 
While topping, the bulbs are usually thrown in heaps ready for market or 
to store away, as the grower may determine. It is best to sack or haul 
from the field while the sun shines, as the onions should be perfectly dry in 
either case. 

A Sacramento valley grower turns down the tops when they 
become limp and when they are pretty dry the onions are pulled 
by hand, cultivation having kept the ground soft. They are left in 
fifty to sixty pound piles to cure until the tops are perfectly dry. 
If the sun is very hot, protect the onions in the piles by keeping the 
tops over them. 

Yield. — Ten tons per acre is a fair yield on good soil, well 
handled, but this amount is frequently exceeded and even 30 tons 
has been secured, according to credible testimony. 

Garden Culture of Onions. — Garden culture proceeds upon 
about the same lines as field work, and by methods already de- 
scribed. Due regard should be had for succession, and by proper 
use of water in summer and of ridge or raised bed in early winter, 
it is practicable to have crisp, young onions all the year, and mature 
ones with but a very short season of storage. Onions have been 
matured from seed sown every month of the year, but the ripen- 
ing was not reached every month because progress is slower at one 
time than at another. 

In the garden onions should have most generous treatment for 
delicate flavor and crispness depends upon quick growth. The use 
of fertilizers in preparation of the soil, and of liquid manure dur- 
ing growth, are strong helps toward this. The onion accepts grate- 
fully the richest manures. 

The first top-onions in the fall can be grown by using bottom 
sets planted closely in the row just as soon as the ground is well 
moistened by early rains. The succession can be had by sowing 
seed at intervals, beginning at the same time the sets are put in and 
continued when the ground is in good condition until spring. 

The following method of growing sets for garden use is ap- 
proved by the experience of Mr. F. Austin, of San Diego county. 



226 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

who grows fine vegetables for the love of it: Sow the seed in the 
spring, say March, not later than April, then as the plants develop 
in the drills which have been sown not too thick, and begin to as- 
sume size and form of bulb, at both sides of the row begin to re- 
move the earth with the hoe, the object being to retard the growth 
or top and form a "set" below. This is repeated, going along each 
side of the growing onions, removing the dirt and even cutting 
some of the roots a second time. The tops begin to wither but the 
bulb increases in size until finally you run the hoe entirely under 
the roots severing them and leaving the now new-formed "sets" to 
dry for a few days, when you take them by the handful from the 
row and shake off the dirt and put them away under cover from 
sun in a cool place until, say, October. Then plant these "sets" 
and they will grow to onions fast and in advance of anything you 
can get from seed and give you large juicy onions. 

Rotation. — The advantage of clean land for onions has been 
mentioned. This is often best secured by allowing onions to follow 
carrots or potatoes or corn. The cultivation of these vegetables 
sprouts and kills many weeds, which are more easily handled in 
connection with those crops than with the onions. The cultivation 
also renders the soil more friable, which is a prime requisite to the 
growth of onions. 

Intercropping. — Large quantities of onions are grown in straw- 
berry regions, being irrigated incidentally in connection with the 
berries. The strawberry plants are on ridges in rows eighteen or 
twenty inches apart; the onion row between the strawberry rows 
parallel thereto in the center of the ridge, the ridges being also 
eighteen to twenty inches apart, so the water runs down between 
the ridges. Onions are also grown between the trees in young 
orchards on rich, deep, moist, or irrigated land. This cannot be 
long continued to advantage, as onions do not take kindly to shade, 
but delight in full sunshine. 

Varieties. — Out of the multitude of varieties a few have proved 
most serviceable and satisfactory for California conditions : 

Barletta: very early, small, pure white, smooth and handsome; largely 
grown for pickling, also for early top onions in garden culture. 

California Early Red: very early, large size, flattish, mild flavor; not a 
good keeper. Chiefly grown by Italian market gardeners and the variety 
probably was introduced from Italy. 

New Queen or Pearl : small, early white, fine flavor. Chiefly grown for 
pickling and for top onions. 

Silver Skin or White Portugal : silvery white, medium size, excellent 
flavor and esteemed for table use. Small bulbs largely used for pickhng. 

Southport White Globe: leading variety in Los Angeles market; silvery 
white, wax-like ; young onions very handsome ; mature bulbs keep well. 

Prize-Taker or Spanish King: very large and beautiful, rich straw color, 
flesh white, sweet and tender; productive and keeps well. 

Australian Brown : flat, light brown, a long keeper and good shipper ; 
very productive on rich sandy soil with ample moisture. A leading com- 
mercial variety. 



LEEK AND GARLIC 



227 



White Bermuda : yellowish white, flat, very early, chiefly grown in south- 
ern California for early shipment. 

Red Bermuda : resembles White Bermuda, except in color. 

Yellow Flat Danvers: most popular flat yellow variety, very hardy and 
trustworthy cropper, leads in San Francisco where it is apt to be called 
"silver-skin." 

Yellow Globe Danvers: large, round, yields well and keeps well; solid 
and good flavor. One of the main varieties in all parts of California. 

Red Wethersfield: large, round, slightly flattened, deep red with white 
flesh, strongly flavored, well adapted for low, moist soils, hardy. This and 
Danvers Globe constitute a main part of the California product. 

Crystal Wax : medium size, waxy white, flat, good for winter crop from 
fall seeding in interior valleys. 

White Queen : very early, good garden variety but not large nor good 
keeper. 

Mammoth Silver King: large, flat, white, mild flavor, garden variety. 

Ailsa Craig: said to be largest onion grown; early, good flavor and fine 
grained. 

Tree-onion : a variety which produces top-sets instead of seed at the 
head of the seed stem. Used in garden culture as already described. It serves 
a good purpose under certain conditions, but is very little used in this state. 

THE LEEK. 

California produces large quantities of leek seed for distant 
sale, but the leek itself is but little grown in California, except by- 
market gardeners, and its use is chiefly by citizens of foreign birth, 
although it is gaining in popularity. The edible part is the blanched 
lower leaves of the plant. The culture is at first practically the same 
as that described for transplanted onions, except that the young leek 
plant is deeply set in a depression in friable soil, and as it grows 
the earth is drawn about the leaves, which are tightly sheathed to- 
gether so as to blanch them into the appearance of a thick white stem. 
Thus the later cultivation of the plant resembles that of celery. It 
is handiest in the garden to sow the seed in drills one foot apart, 
at intervals from fall to spring, so as to have a succession, and 
plant the seedlings when about the diameter of a goose quill, in 
the bottom of a drill or furrow several inches deep. The plants 
need wide spacing, say six to ten inches, for they reach considerable 
thickness and make a large display of leaves. Cultivation gradually 
levels the ground. Leeks need ample moisture and good cultivation 
to attain fine size and tenderness. If the blanching is not particu- 
larly cared for, the plants may be grown at the surface just as 
onions are, except for the greater distance the plant requires to de- 
velop. The leeks chiefly grown in California are the Large Amer- 
ican Flag, of good, uniform size, and strong growth, and London 
Flag, a large, strong grower also. 

GARLIC. 

What is said of the restricted local use of the leek applies also 
to the garlic. It is grown with about the same cultivation as the 
onion, and the planting season is of the same duration. The method 
is by planting the bulblets, or "cloves," taken out of the silvery skin 



228 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

which covers the bunch, and planted Hke onion sets about six inches 
apart in rows one foot distant from each other. It may also be 
grown by planting whole cases of sets one foot apart in the rows. 
The planting should be rather shallow and the soil should be light 
and well cultivated to allow the free expansion of the bulb. 

There was a great rush for garlic after the European war 
opened. Purchases for shipment covered the local supply and 
prices to restore it ran very high — even to $15 and $20 per ctl. 
Stimulated production soon became unprofitable, and the field for 
enterprise in garlic seems to be strictly limited. Some Californians 
coming from less favored countries are surprised to find their gar- 
lic bulbs flowering freely and wonder if the bulb is valueless after 
that, as is the case of onions going to seed. Apprehension is un- 
necessary. The garlic is a true perennial and will keep on making 
bulblets while the onion is short-lived and must come again from 
the seed more quickly. 

CHIVES. 

These are small plants, whose leaves have the onion flavor de- 
sired in cookery. They are grown from the small bulbs, and from 
thick clumps or an edging for permanent garden beds. The leaves 
are shorn off whenever desired and are most excellent for giving 
a mild onion flavor to salads and soups. 

CIBOULE. 

Another plant used like chives, but of taller growth, is the 
Welch onion, or ciboule. It makes no bulb, but seeds freely, and 
the plant develops rapidly to cutting condition. The cultivation is 
the same as of onions grown from seed. 

SHALLOT. 

Both the bulbs and leaves of this plant are used to give the 
onion flavor in cookery. Propagation is the same as that of chives, 
by means of the small bulbs, and the culture is the same as of onions 
grown from sets. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



PEAS. 

The Garden Pea. — Pisum sativum. 
French, pois a ecosser ; German, schal-erbsen ; Dutch, doperwten ; Danish, 
skaloerte ; Italian, piselli da sgranare ; Spanish, guisantes para desgranar ; Por- 
tuguese, ervilhas de grao. 

The Lentil. — Lens esculenta. 
French, lentille ; German, linse ; Dutch, linze ; Danish, lindse ; Italian, 
lente; Spanish, lenteja; Portuguese, lentilha. 

The Garbanzo or Chick Pea. — Cicer arietiniim. 
French, pois chiche ; German, kicher-erbse ; Italian, cece ; Spanish, gar- 
banzos ; Portuguese, chicaro. 

Dry heat is offensive to the pea, and its occurrence imposes 
the chief hmitation to the success of this vegetable in CaUfornia. 
The escape from this limitation consists in winter growth, as far as 
practicable, and in recourse to the coast region where atmospheric 
humidity is greatest and summer heat least. The pea is very hardy 
against frost, and this advantage goes far to compensate for its 
susceptibility to drought, because it enables it to thrive in the winter 
in the very places where it perishes in summer. The obvious deduc- 
tion is that in regions dependent upon rainfall the garden planting 
of the pea must be as early in the fall as adequate moisture has 
reached the soil, and in regions where irrigation is available, it is 
desirable that the start should be made in advance of rainfall for 
the earliest product, and that other plantings follow for a success- 
sion, until it is ascertained what is the latest date of sowing which 
will reach satisfactory maturity. If practice proceed upon this 
basis, the pea will be seen to have a much longer season than in 
wintry climates, although, in some places, midsummer growth is 
impracticable. Most failures to realize this satisfaction with the 
pea are due to late planting and failure to recognize that, in many 
parts of the state, the pea is a winter and not a summer plant. 

In the growth of field peas most disappointments have followed 
the same misapprehension, and a monopoly of pea conditions has 
been conceded to the coast when the interior really can grow large 
amounts of forage, at least, by taking a different time of the year 
for it. Fortunately, this fact is coming to be better understood, and 
large fields of peas are now grown as winter feed for dairy cows 
and in the orchard to be plowed under early in the spring for green 
manuring, where only recently the pea was supposed to be unsuited 
to the climate. These remarks apply to the true pea, not to the so- 
called "cow pea," which really belongs to the bean family and is 
very susceptible to frost injury. 

[ 229 ] 



230 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Soils and Situations for the Pea. — The pea succeeds on a wide 
variety of soils — a good, rich loam of sufficient retentiveness being 
the ideal. Where it is winter-grown, with moderate heat and am- 
ple moisture, lighter soils can be successfully used, because they 
are warmer and dispose of the surplus water more readily. Though 
the pea withstands much frost, it needs warmth for rapid advance- 
ment, and for this reason the earliest peas, as, for example, peas 
for Christmas from September sowing, are grown where there is 
little frost, and hillsides are often used to escape the heavier frosts 
of the valley below. In moist bottom lands in the interior, and on 
uplands near the coast, peas naturally thrive much later in the sea- 
son than on the interior plains and hillsides, and the latest green 
peas are grown in the moist lands of the coast valleys, moisture 
being retained by cultivation or supplied by irrigation, according to 
local conditions. By using these different situations green peas are 
available for city trade nearly the entire year. 

Culture. — From what has been said it may be inferred that 
the pea at different times of the year is to be handled with all the 
arts for releasing or retaining moisture, which are described in the 
chapters on the planting season, drainage and cultivation. The 
reader should study these, and choose the methods adapted to the 
soil and time of the year with which he expects to operate. Depth 
of planting is also governed by these factors, as described in the 
chapter on propagation. The pea will thrive with deep covering, 
according to the soil and moisture — even to covering the seed in a 
plow furrow in a light soil — but in a heavier soil, with assurance of 
moisture, a single inch of depth may best favor its growth. Deep 
working of the soil is also, as a rule, acceptable to the pea and where 
the crop is to come late and to endure a measure of heat and 
drought, deep working in preparation and fine surface cultivation, 
as late as feasible without injury to the vines, is necessary. But, on 
the other hand, for fall and winter growth in some situations and 
soils, such thorough work may not be called for. For winter work, 
too, it is not desirable that the surface should be worked to a fine 
mulch; surplus water is reheved by evaporation and the surface is 
prevented from crusting, if a coarser condition is retained. The 
pea plant gives every possible advantage to the grower; it is strong 
growing and hardy, and it has a large seed which makes a vigorous 
shoot. If the grower can give it escape from dry heat it will serve 
him well both in garden and field. 

It should be remembered, however, that the pea needs a cer- 
tain amount of heat, though it be small, and there is nothing gained 
by sowing in cold, wet ground. In small, frosty valleys with heavy 
rainfall sowing should often be delayed until the ground is warmed 
in February, though on slopes above such valleys much earlier work 
can often be done satisfactorily. The fitness of certain varieties 
for seasonal conditions will be considered presently. 



COMMERCIAL PEA GROWING 231 

For the Earliest Peas. — The earliest peas, counting the first of 
July as the beginning of the California season, are in picking con- 
dition in December, from seed sown in August and September. 
Irrigate the land thoroughly, plow well, harrow, and sow the seed 
with a drill as nearly as practicable an inch apart in rows two and 
a half feet distant. Another way is to open a shallow furrow with 
a single plow, scatter the seed in the furrow and cover with a cul- 
tivator, covering the seed and stirring the space between the rows. 
In growing peas on hillsides for very early market, the foreigners, 
who are the chief growers, depend much upon hand work and bring 
the rows nearer together. Irrigation must be used from time to 
time to keep the soil from drying until the rains come and subse- 
quently if the rains are light. The plants must be pushed to bring 
well-filled pods and continual moisture is essential. Cultivation, to 
keep the soil clean and mellow, is necessary. A light harrow can 
be safely used with peas even after the plants appear. After this 
the free use of the cultivator will be found profitable. 

Peas in the garden are often successfully grown in hills about 
three feet apart with about a dozen peas in a hill. Where there is 
apt to be much winter water and the soil heavy, a raised bed is 
desirable. 

Later Solving. — Whether it will be profitable to arrange for a 
succession of peas in the early winter depends upon the local soil 
and climate. On light soils and in regions of moderate rainfall and 
frost it is quite feasible, but in most regions December and January 
bring the lowest temperatures and the longest rainstorms of the 
year, and the ground is out of condition. The advent of February 
changes things enough to meet the requirements of the pea, and then 
the sowing for the spring and summer succession may begin. At 
first the ridge or raised bed method will give safety against exces- 
sive water, but later sowings should be made for flat culture on soil 
most thoroughly prepared and well cultivated afterward. 

Field Growth. — Where peas are sown for forage or for a crop 
of dry peas, sowing can be done broadcast on land which has been 
previously plowed and harrowed, and then the seed is covered with 
a shallow cross-plowing of the whole field. If the soil is friable 
and a good condition of moisture, this leaves the surface well loos- 
ened and able to receive considerable rain without baking. This 
method answers well on light soils in the interior early in the winter, 
and the moist condition of the upper coast valleys is also satisfac- 
tory. In the upper coast valleys peas can be safely sown as late 
as May for summer crop and forage. Wherever heat or drought 
and hard ground are likely to be encountered before the vines cover 
the ground, drill culture and cultivation are better. 

Peas in the Orchard. — It has already been mentioned that the 
winter growth of peas in the orchard for plowing under for green 
manure, is being widely practiced in this state. The pea has the 
power of appropriating atmospheric nitrogen and its growth in the 



232 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

winter in the warmer parts of the state may be effected with little 
loss of moisture to the trees. Growing the pea crop in the orchard 
to be gathered green for canners' use has also been successfully done 
in this state, when the trees are small. The pea is probably one of 
the least injurious of the inter-cultures and under certain conditions 
may be of actual benefit to the trees. For this purpose the crop 
should be gathered and the green vine plowed in as early as possible. 

No Support for Peas. — Peas are chiefly grown as a prostrate 
crop in California both in garden and field. The preference is for 
the dwarf or medium high kinds and they are allowed to stand or 
mat down as they see fit. It better suits a climate where reclining 
on the ground very rarely induces mildew and where the covering 
of the ground assists in maintaining the coolness and moisture of 
soil which delights the pea. 

Varieties. — Of the two main divisions of pea varieties, the 
smooth and the wrinkled skins, the smooth are the more hardy and 
can be safely grown early. The smooth pea may resist decay and 
grow where the wrinkled seed will perish. And yet the wrinkled 
pea is so popular that wrinkled varieties have almost excluded the 
smooth kinds from growth as vegetables. Our enterprising seeds- 
men are continually offering new varieties, but the older sorts still 
prevail largely, as follows : 

Alaska : tall-growing, small smooth pea, pod short, well filled ; very early. 

American Wonder : dwarf, wrinkled, very compact growth, productive 
and early, fine quality, very sweet ; the leading early pea in California. 

McLean's Little Gem: dwarf, wrinkled, very early, productive, rich and 
sweet. 

Nott's Excelsior: resembles American Wonder; larger growing and more 
productive ; fine quality ; long bearing period ; excellent home garden pea. 

Gradus : earliest of its height ; pods large ; peas delicious. 

Premium Gem : an improved Little Gem with larger pods ; popular for 
home gardens. 

Yorkshire Hero (also called Alameda Sweet) : later than dwarf varieties; 
most popular in all parts of the state for main crop; strong grower, with 
branching habit; large pods well filled with large, wrinkled peas; keeps in 
condition on vine longer than other varieties. 

Stratagem : strong grower, with large showy pods ; peas large, of good 
flavor. 

Champion of England : well-known late variety, largely used by canners. 

Telephone : late, very productive, large pods ; peas sugary ; largely grown 
and sometimes very profitable. Dwarf Telephone or Daisy is the same variety 
of low growth. 

Edible Pod or Sugar Peas. — Although California interest is al- 
most wholly centered in the shelling varieties of peas, there has re- 
cently been some attention paid in home gardens to the edible pod 
varieties which are used in the kitchen as are string or snap beans. 
They are available because of their hardiness at times of the year 
when string beans can only be had from frostless regions if at all. 
Their culture is the same as for other kinds of peas. 



LENTILS AND GARBANZOS 233 

LENTILS. 

Though of another botanical genus, lentils are best classed with 
peas. They are quite hardy and make a good winter growth. Len- 
tils are a kind of pea which Americans have little use for and our 
seedsmen do not usually find it desirable to offer the seeds, which 
indicates a minimum demand. They are grown just like a dwarf 
pea. They have a pea's endurance of frost and are planted from 
fall to spring for cultivation like peas. Lentils are rarely seen in 
California, probably because peas are preferred, not only because 
of flavor, but because of more easy handling. The lentil bears but 
two seeds in a pod. It is like the garbanzo in that kind of shift- 
lessness. Americans like peas which put eight or ten peas in a 
pod and make the pod big enough to grab easily. Besides, the 
lentil is not eaten as we eat peas : it is used only in stews and soups 
and for that purpose we use "split peas," which are cheaper be- 
cause more easily secured in quantity and suit our taste just as 
well. One certainly should not undertake lentils extensively unless 
he can get a contract with a buyer who has a good European 
appetite. Owing to their early winter growth they may come into 
use here for cattle food as in Europe. 

GARBANZOS. 

Another two-seeded pod bearer is the garbanzo or chick pea, 
which is a hairy plant of the vetch family. Its uses are like those 
of lentils, but it has also served widely as a coffee substitute. Its 
culture is easy, like the pea in method, but the product is always 
used dry or mature. The plant is more hardy against drought than 
the peas. Its production in California is small, but seems to be 
increasing. The price is uncertain : one must find some one to 
contract for them. They are not much used by Americans. Money 
has been made in the past by shipping them to Mexico, and there 
is demand for them in places where Mexicans congregate in this 
state. Garbanzos are not beans, and will not sell for beans. They 
are near-peas. They are in their manner of growth and their uses 
more like lentils, but in their appearance more like a lop-sided pea. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
PEPPERS. 

Chile Peppers. — Capsicum annuum. 
French, piment; German, pfeffer; Dutch, Spaansche peper; Italian, pepe- 
rone; Spanish, pimiento; Portuguese, pimento. 

The settlement of California by people of Spanish birth or 
descent naturally brought the pepper into early prominence in this 
state, and the considerable fraction of our population which now 
traces to south of Europe nations serves to hold the plant in popu- 
larity. American citizens have also wide liking for the pepper in 
some of its uses, and the result is, large local demand for the cap- 
sules both in green and mature states. There is this main division 
in the demand, — the northern races prefer the large, green, mild 
varieties ; the southern races chiefly use that which is ripe, red, and 
fiery in flavor. But, of course, this distinction is not to be pushed 
too far. Each kind has its uses which are observed by all consum- 
ers. In the California markets the two kinds or conditions stand 
side by side in such quantities as to make them conspicuous. 

Though the pepper is usually an annual, it carries its profitable 
productive life into the second year in the thermal regions of the 
state. The stem has a tendency to become woody and after a period 
of partial dormancy, it sends out new shoots and bears its second 
crop. This cannot, however, be expected in a frosty location. 

Garden Culture. — Peppers are usually grown from plants 
started early by artificial heat in the same manner indicated for 
eggplant. Planting out should be done after danger of frost is over 
and the soil is well warmed by the sun. Later plants may be grown 
by planting the seed in drills in the open ground, thinning the plants 
afterward to suitable distance. Moisture should be evenly main- 
tained by cultivation or irrigation as needed, but excessive water is 
undesirable at all times from the seed sowing onward. The plants 
will endure heat and drouth, but the fruiting is deficient in size and 
quantity, and for the best success, especially with the large varie- 
ties, rich, light soil, well cultivated and adequately moist, is a requi- 
site. The distance between the plants depends upon method of 
cultivation. In the hand-worked garden, the plants may be set a 
foot apart in rows, eighteen inches distant from each other, but 
usually greater distance is better, and for horse work the rows 
should be two or three feet apart. 

Field Culture. — Field culture for canning and for the trade in 
dried peppers is pursued on a large scale in southern California, 
especially in Orange county, on the deep loams of the gentle slope 
oceanward. An outline of methods is prepared from data fur- 

[234] 



COMMERCIAL GROWTH OF PEPPERS 235 

nished by Mr. Allan Knapp, of Anaheim, who is widely acquainted 
with local experience in the pepper district of Orange county, which 
is credited with a product of about a thousand tons of dried pep- 
pers a year. 

Seed. — It is exceedingly important to have a good type of 
plant, and this can be secured by selecting pods in the field, to 
furnish seed for the following year, from low bushy vines full of 
pods of medium length. A tall bush will not produce as many pods 
and it is more liable to be broken by strong winds when loaded with 
fruit. Besides the end of the pods from a low plant will rest on 
the ground, and in that position they will prop up the branches, 
providing you keep crowding a little earth to the row at each cul- 
tivation, as will be described later. 

When these seed pods are gathered put them on a string and 
hang up to dry against the south end of a building. Do not put 
them into the evaporator when hotter than 110 to 115°. They may 
stand more heat, but perhaps only 50% of the seed may germinate 
quickly, and the other half may delay a week longer than those 
dried in the sun; neither will it make so strong a plant. 

Grozuing Seedlings. — Select a location for the seed-bed where 
good drainage may be had. Sandy soil is best, but not so poor 
that it contains no plant food to nourish the young plant. Plow 
and level the plot, harrowing or raking with a hand rake, as only 
a small piece of land is used; sow seed about March 15 in rows 
three inches apart, covering one-quarter of an inch. On this spread 
one-quarter inch with sand. Start your seed beside a large tree, if 
you have one, and you will have fair success. The tree will drain 
your land. If the young plants begin to die by "damping off," 
take a trowel and dig out the affected spots and throw them away. 
The plants should have five or six leaves on before transplanting 
commences. Wet the soil of the seed-bed thoroughly before lifting 
the plants, as the roots are damaged less. 

Field Planting. — Plow the field deeply early in the winter and 
keep down weeds by shallow cultivation until planting time, when 
danger of frost is past. The chile plant is very sensitive to cold. 
May 1 is a good time for planting. Mark field off in rows 4y^ 
feet apart and set 2j4 feet apart in rows. Should the weather be 
dry and irrigation necessary plow a furrow beside each mark and 
run water in these furrows before and after planting, and if the 
weather be very hot two or three irrigations may be necessary to 
start plants. Always allow 24 hours after irrigating before plants 
are set, unless soil is very sandy. Then work may commence sooner. 

When through with the irrigation furrows, plow back and cul- 
tivate the land until level as before. Keep soil in good growing 
condition always. When plants are 12 to 15 inches high use a 
ridger (such as is used in raising levees for irrigation checks) with 
plenty of space open behind and straddle each row, thus drawing 
the earth to each side of plant and giving it support. Water may 



236 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

be run down these rows at this time. As plants grow make the 
ridge wider with a crowder run in between each row. This ridge 
will keep plants from breaking down so readily when laden with 
fruit, and when fruit strikes the ground it wall not decay so readily 
because the ridge will be dry. Do not make your first ridging too 
high, and do not do the work too late; if so, the first setting will 
be greatly injured by pushing the earth against the fruit, thus leav- 
ing no room for it to grow, and many pods will be curly and eaten 
by bugs. 

Grozving from Seed in Place. — Allen Brothers, of Garden 
Grove, formerly grew plants in hot-beds but later have used a 
garden drill to put the seed in finely pulverized ground in the field 
where they will grow without transplanting. This is usually done 
in the first half of March. The rows are 3>^ to 4 feet apart and 
the seeds are sown thick enough so that they will leave a good stand 
when thinned to 20 inches apart at 3 to 6 inches high. The ones 
thinned out may be transplanted as late as June to places where 
there are not enough already. But little water is necessary in trans- 
planting and there is but little loss. Considerable dirt may be taken 
up with the plant, as it is usually moved only a few feet at most. 

Shovel cultivators are used after each irrigation on the harder 
lumpy soils, but harrows are sufficient on the sandy soils. Always 
bear in mind that peppers have a widespread root system near the 
surface, and these roots should not be cut. The same thing is to 
be remembered in ditching for irrigation. Broad flat ditches are 
right, between low ridges along the rows to keep the water away 
from the plants. 

Irrigation. — Irrigation is the most particular need of peppers ; 
they require more than other crops. Allen Brothers irrigate ten to 
fifteen times per season, according to the soil. From July 15 when 
the fruit begins to set, the vines need water about every ten days. 

Directly after an irrigation about September 15, burr clover 
is sown for fertilizer, and a last shallow cultivation is immediately 
given. The clover is, of course, to keep up the fertility. The Aliens 
have raised peppers three or four years in succession on the same 
fields; but they usually alternate with lima beans, which also build 
up fertility. 

Gathering and Curing. — During September the fruit will be- 
gin to ripen, the time of ripening depending upon the soil and the 
care of the crop. In sandy soil the fruit will ripen quicker than 
in deep sediment. If the plants lack moisture they will ripen much 
faster, which looks well, but they should be kept green as long as 
possible. It pays better in the end. 

The crop should be picked as each setting ripens; go over the 
field three or four times. A pod should be left on the vine until 
of a dark red and it has lost its hardness, being somewhat pliable. 
Have the crop gathered in large baskets, but they should be hauled 
in boxes rather than sacks, as they are less liable to be bruised, and 



PEPPERS FOR CANNING AND DRYING 237 

a bruised pod is liable to decay unless dried at once. If peppers 
are to be dried on strings, have them dumped on a table or on the 
ground, as you prefer. Allow 24 to 48 hours for stems to wilt 
after gathering before they are put on the string. This work is 
done by running a twine through the stem of each chile, the twine 
to be 10>^ to 11 feet, and same may be hung on a scaffold to dry 
or put into especially made evaporators. Some growers report 
favorably on drying their crop on trays instead of on twine. Dur- 
ing recent years most of the drying has been done by evaporators, 
which is accomplished by artificial heat in six or eight days. 

If an early frost should catch the plants pick off all the fruit 
both ripe and green. If spread on trays in a dry, cool place much 
of the green fruit will ripen. 

Soils for the Commercial Crop. — Although peppers can be suc- 
cessfully grown in any good garden soil, it is important for the 
field crop to choose deep, rich, sandy loam, or sediment soil, which 
will not bake very rapidly. The young plants must be set in damp 
soil and if land should easily bake it will become hard and will dry 
out more readily about the young plant and the growth will be very 
slow. It is not wise to grow more than two crops of peppers on 
even the best of soils without fertilizing very liberally. Cover crops 
plowed under are found very profitable. 

The Crop for Canning and Drying. — At Garden Grove in 
Orange county in 1914 Allen Brothers, who grew forty of the esti- 
mated 750 acres in Orange county and give the following outline 
of the product, sold both green for canning and dried for other 
uses. The yield of green peppers has never been less than five tons 
per acre and has been as high as fifteen tons, averaging about nine 
tons green besides the ones left to ripen. Very many growers con- 
tract their crops to the canners early in the season. 

Green peppers which are not suitable for the canneries or 
which are missed by the pickers during the short time they are 
good for canning, are allowed to ripen and are then artificially 
dried. If all are allowed to ripen, the dried crop is 1500 to 3000 
pounds per acre and they sell at seven to nineteen cents per pound, 
averaging about ten cents. Often the crop is sold green and less 
than 500 pounds per acre are dried. A large part of this 500 pounds 
is that part of the crop which is green when frost kills the plants 
in November to February. They are dried on trays and sold at 
^ cents to be ground up for chicken feed. 

When the whole crop is dried they are hung up in a shed over 
dry or steam heat five to seven days. The old custom of drying 
them in the sun is not now common because many of the ripe pep- 
pers rot before they dry that way. Some of them are ready to 
pick November 1, and were picked one season for drying until 
February 15, which is exceptional. 

In the sheltered foothills, they pick green ones all the year 
around. In the level country about Los Angeles, green peppers 



238 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

are picked for the canneries from about August 15 till frost. Each 
pepper is suitable for picking only a short time, not over two weeks, 
and is in best condition just before it begins to turn red. None 
should be overlooked early in the season, for the more you pick, 
the more blossoms will come and new ones be set. 

Varieties. — The varieties chiefly grown for home use and mar- 
keting green are Large Bell or Bull-nose, an early variety of mild 
flavor, fruit large, sHghtly tapering and generally terminating in 
four obtuse, cone-like points. It is a favorite sort, both for pickling 
and for table use. Sweet Mountain is another popular variety sim- 
ilar to the foregoing, but larger and milder in flavor, and Chinese 
Giant is an immense pepper, often twice as large as Large Bell. 
Recently the Pimiento has been gaining rapidly in popularity for 
beauty, mild flavor and desirability for canning. 

The standard for hot pepper and for the dried crop is the 
Mexican chile, long, narrow pods on a low-growing, narrow-leaved 
plant. One type is a very dark, thick-meated, cone-shaped chile, 
growing form 4 to 6 inches long, which is gaining ground; while 
the Long Red, or Anaheim chile, having pods from 6 to 10 inches 
long, is the best known. The plant is strong and holds its fruit up 
well and is very productive. There is also a longer variety with 
pods up to fourteen inches in length, which, however, is claimed 
to be less productive and light when dried, though the flesh is quite 
thick when green. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
POTATOES. 

The Potato. — Solanum tuberosum. 
French, pomme de terre ; German, kartoffel ; Dutch, aardappel ; Danish, 
jordepeeren; Italian, patata; Spanish and Portuguese, patatas. 

The Sweet Potato. — Convolvulus batatas. 
French, patate douce ; Italian, patata ; Spanish and Portuguese, batata. 

Potatoes may be grown everywhere in California without irri- 
gation, except on strictly arid plains and deserts, and it needs but 
slight watering to enable the light but rich soils of the arid regions 
to surpass the naturally moist lands both in the size and quality of 
their produce. Some of the grandest potatoes ever grown in the 
state have been taken from light, warm soils whose natural growth 
was sagebrush and other desert flora. The superiority of the higher, 
lighter lands, either with adequate rainfall or irrigation, to the moist 
lowlands of the interior river bottoms or the coast valleys, have 
been clearly recognized during recent years. In the earlier days, 
the coast and interior river bottoms were supposed to be, par ex- 
cellence, the potato regions, and their products were transported 
great distances to interior uplands which were thought to be unfit 
for the plant. Now the choicest potatoes are grown in these places 
and the production in the older regions has decreased, though the 
potato still constitutes an important crop. The present situation is, 
that the potato fields may be seen everywhere from the skirts of 
the cliffs which look down upon the ocean, along the bottoms and 
sides of the coast valleys, on the reclaimed lands and benches of 
the great interior rivers, up the slopes of the foothills and in the 
mountain valleys of the Sierra Nevada and out beyond, upon the 
stretches of sagebrush, wherever water can be had to turn the 
desert into a garden. California has a capacity for potato pro- 
duction beyond the ability of any available market to handle, and 
though a few years ago it seemed likely that our climatic advantages 
in early production would give us command of distant consumption 
at certain times of the year, it has since been shown that much less 
can be profitably done in this direction than was anticipated. There 
have been in some years very large shipments at reduced freight 
rates when the eastern production was deficient, but the potato is 
ordinarily too cheap an article to endure the cost of long transpor- 
tation. In 1916 California was eighth in the rank of the United 
States in potato production, with 10,575,000 bushels grown on 
75,000 acres, with a farm value for the crop of $14,805,000. The 
production was about the same as during the preceding five years but 
the valuation was nearly doubled by war prices. The record yield 

[ 239 ] 



240 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

of the state is held by the Boa Vista ranch of El Dorado county, 
where a selected acre produced 47,254 pounds of merchantable po- 
tatoes and 2559 pounds of culls and received the award by the 
State Horticultural Commission in 1915. 

Situations. — Though, as has been stated, the potato grows 
wherever adequate moisture is assured, there is much difference 
in the times of the year at which maturity is attained. Though the 
potato is a tender plant it will endure light frosts, nor does it al- 
ways yield its life when the frost blights the foliage. Dormant 
buds lower on the stem develop into a new top growth. It is, there- 
fore, possible to secure fall and even winter growth in places where 
a strictly tender plant like the bean would perish. Where only 
light frosts occur and where irrigation is provided to supplement 
rainfall, it is possible to have new potatoes all the year and to bring 
to edible condition three crops successively on the same ground 
within a twelve month, though it is, of course, better to let the 
potato take its place in a rotation. 

Nezv Potatoes. — The first new potatoes from a California point 
of view, would be the crop that comes with the first green peas, 
counting July 1 as the beginning of the year. In fact, in the San 
Francisco district, the first potatoes and peas come from the same 
localities. They make their growth in the fall from planting on 
ground well soaked by irrigation in July and August. The regions 
for this work are those in which fall frosts are light or do not 
occur at all — the thermal belts at different elevations on the hill- 
sides both on the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada, also on the 
warm interior plains of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, 
but not usually on the river bottoms of large valleys nor on the 
low places in small valleys. Owing, however, to the partial resist- 
ance to frost of the potato, there are very wide areas both on the 
coast and in the interior of central and southern California, where 
the fall growth of potatoes is safe and worth wider attention than 
is given to it. Where irrigation may be had to start the seed well 
the fall rains usually carry on the growth. 

Fall Crop in the Valley Garden. — Starting potatoes in the 
autumn in the interior valley has some difificulties. Old seed from 
cold storage rots badly when transferred to the soil under a July 
and August sun, and new crop seed may lie long dormant or rot 
also. A plan which works well in small plantings for home use is 
described by W. T. Kirkman, of Merced, in this way: 

I conceived the idea of sprouting the potatoes and transplanting somewhat 
after the manner of sweet potato planting. I procured a quantity of well- 
matured small Early Rose potatoes. I spread them in a plant shed, one and two 
layers deep and covered with two or three inches of sand. One part I covered 
with sawdust (old chaff will do). I kept this bed well watered by using the 
sprinkler on it daily. In three or four weeks sprouts began to appear. These 
I extracted carefully with the parent potato attached and planted at once. 
I went through this bed at intervals of a week apart, four times. For each 
of these plantings I had to flood a strip three or four days in advance, and 



NEW POTATOES ALL THE YEAR 241 

as soon as the ground was broken and hoed, the plants were set by line and 
the ground firmed at base around the tubers by hand. They were inserted 
about five inches deep, the tops in most cases being covered loosely. On good 
potato land, this flooding and plowing when the ground is fully damp and yet 
in good pulverizing order and followed by a good shallow cultivation, insures 
moisture for a crop. 

Later Nezv Potatoes. — Planting for what may be called the 
second run of new potatoes requires stricter attention to thermal 
conditions. This crop must be growing in December and January, 
which are our months of heaviest frosts and rainfall usually. Strictly 
thermal belts, to be found at different elevations on hillsides, gen- 
erally within the reach of ocean influences in the south half of the 
California coast line, but also here and there on the hillsides of the 
interior, favor the growth of the potato all through the winter, if 
the soil be light and kept warm by free escape of surplus water and 
abundant winter sunshine. 

The third run of new potatoes is secured by the planting of 
the early varieties as soon as possible after the heaviest frosts of 
the locality are over, and the soil becomes warm enough to push 
growth. This is the main potato planting season of California, and 
covers a wide range of dates, beginning with January on light, well- 
drained soils at the south to get the earliest new potatoes for east- 
ern shipment in May, of which about a thousand carloads are an- 
nually shipped eastward from Orange, Los Angeles and San Ber- 
nardino counties. Planting continues in February, not only in the 
south, but on warm uplands all through the central portion of the 
state, and later with planting all through March, April and May, as 
spring conditions come successively to the upper coast valleys and 
the mountain regions, or as the river lowlands are drained of their 
surplus water. In fact on interior river lands planting is done as 
late as June and July and the crop comes on rapidly with ample 
heat and moisture. In fact on these moist lowlands, planting is 
proceeding in midsummer on the same fields from which matured 
potatoes are being harvested from February planting. This, how- 
ever, though possible, is not good practice usually because the potato 
likes new land and is advantaged by rotation. 

Always Nezv Potatoes. — Thus it appears that potato planting 
covers the entire year, and that while some parts of the state are 
digging their main crop, other parts are making their first planting. 
To bring the matter nearer to a point it may be said that a man in 
the central coast region may be eating new potatoes from his hill- 
side while he is planting his main crop on his lowlands. And yet 
one is frequently asked to answer categorically the question : ''When 
do you plant potatoes in California?" Obviously it is a local ques- 
tion, to be learned by experience, observation and inquiry, in ac- 
cordance with the general conditions outlined in the chapter on the 
planting season in California. In connection, however, with this 
wide liberty in planting, taking the state as a whole, it must be 
borne in mind that local requirements are sometimes very sharp 



242 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

and that planting on the interior plains or in other parts of the 
state where there is high heat and drought, or the soil becomes dry 
even with moderate heat, planting must be undertaken early enough 
to allow a large part of the development of the plant before such 
stress comes. Local failures with potatoes may, therefore, be often 
attributed to neglect of planting as soon as moisture and tempera- 
ture conditions favor growth in each locality. 

Soils. — Light, rich loams are best for potatoes as they favor 
root extension and expansion of tubers and they are retentive 
enough to hold the moderate amount of moisture which ministers 
to the highest quality. Very near the coast well-cultivated, light 
uplands receive atmospheric moisture enough to sustain the deep 
verdure of the potato fields, while the pastures are sere and yellow. 
Summer growth on interior plains and foothill slopes and mountain 
plateaus is sustained by less irrigation than many other crops re- 
quire, and winter growth, whenever feasible, is best on light, free 
soils. The sediment and peat of the river lands are also, in their 
season, light and warm. But the potato insists upon adequate 
moisture, though its claim is moderate. It cannot give satisfaction 
unless its moisture requirements are met. 

Heavy soils in garden culture can be greatly improved as de- 
scribed in Chapter IV. Early and deep working of the soil and the 
plowing in of rotten straw and compost and thorough mixture of 
these materials through the soil will have marked effect, but heavy 
land potatoes seldom have the beauty and flavor of the product of 
the light, rich loams. 

Fertilising. — Stable manure may be freely used if applied a 
few months before planting and worked into the soil when moist 
enough to promote decomposition. Ten or twelve tons to the acre 
have been used to advantage. This may be followed by commer- 
cial fertilizers just before planting. In the case of the record crop 
in El Dorado county, previously mentioned, twelve tons of stable 
manure per acre were spread and plowed in in December. In May 
the winter growth of green stuff was plowed in and then a ton per 
acre of commercial fertilizer, analyzing five per cent nitrogen, seven 
per cent phosphoric acid and eight per cent potash, was disked in 
and the crop planted. 

Culture. — Deep working of the soil is essential in preparation 
for potatoes as has already been urged for beets and other root 
crops. The soil must be made mellow to a good depth and kept 
mellow by subsequent cultivation. 

Certified Seed Potatoes. — Assurance of good quality and free- 
dom from disease in seed potatoes can now be had in California by 
discriminating planters. The state legislature of 1914-15 passed a 
law known as the California Certified Seed Potato Act, which es- 
tablishes a standard for good seed potatoes. The administration of 
this law is in the hands of the State Horticultural Commission at 
Sacramento, from whom details may be obtained on application. 



PLANTING POTATOES 243 

Seed potatoes to receive certification must be free from the pests 
and diseases specified in the law cited. 

Unless the seed potatoes are old and show active eyes, they 
should be exposed to the light for about two weeks to advance ger- 
mination. This is especially the case when the tubers of an early crop 
are used for later planting the same season or when seed potatoes 
are taken from cold storage. In that case, vitalize it by exposure 
to half sunlight for two weeks or more and see that it is disposed 
to sprout before planting. This is a rational treatment for all po- 
tatoes which do not seem to be starting their eyes. In the fresh 
seed it promotes maturity; in stored seed it determines viability. 
Never mind if it greens the tuber — that is no objection, though, of 
course, one does not wish to blister or burn the skin by too much 
direct sunshine. 

All proposed methods of seed-cutting have been tried in Cali- 
fornia, and each has its advocates. When the soil and season favor, 
excellent crops are grown from small potatoes used as seed, but 
commendation of small potatoes for seed does not include the 
"nuts," which are usually immature, without well developed eyes, 
etc. Besides, these "nuts" do not have bulk of starch sufficient to 
strongly start new plants. The smaller potatoes are good for seed 
providing they have bulk enough and are well matured. They are 
preferred in planting for second crop in the interior because large 
potatoes will rot if cut and have too many eyes if not cut. Some 
growers grow their own seed small purposely by crowding the 
plants, culture otherwise being as it should be, so that the small 
potatoes are from good stock and not runts. Generally the selected 
fair-sized, merchantable potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise, pro- 
duce best results. Cutting to single eyes is not a good commercial 
practice. In certain prize contests, with a maximum of favorable 
conditions in soil and fertilizing and cultivation, the greatest yields 
have sometimes been had by single-eye planting. Under ordinary 
conditions the thriftiest plants come from eyes which started with 
a good amount of the plant-food stored in the tuber — therefore 
cutting into two-ounce pieces is commended by some, while most 
planters do not cut at all, unless the seed tubers are above average 
size. 

When things are otherwise favorable, the size of the crop 
usually bears relation to the weight of the seed used to the acre — 
therefore a good weight of seed is a good investment. 

There is no advantage in cutting long before planting; there 
is more danger of injury by fermentation. 

Distance between pieces in the furrow depends upon the ten- 
dency of the potatoes to grow too large. This is often corrected 
by dropping more thickly. The range is from twelve to twenty 
inches usually. It is usual to use from ten to fifteen sacks of po- 
tatoes in planting an acre — sometimes even more seed is used. 



244 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

In the field much planting is done with the plow by dropping 
the "seed" in every third of fourth furrow so as to bring the roots 
about three feet apart, and covering with the following furrow. 
Depth of planting depends upon season and soil as described in 
Chapter XI ; the same principles governing as in the planting of 
seed. After the seed is plowed in to a depth of four to eight inches, 
according to season and soil, a thorough cross-harrowing should 
leave the field in good shape. On light soils disposed to be dry, a 
light rolling may be beneficial. As soon as the plants appear, har- 
rowing zvith the rows mellows the surface, kills the small weeds, and 
does not hurt the potatoes. Cultivation between the rows should 
soon follow and the surface should be kept loose until the plants 
are quite high. Good, clean culture is the rule with potatoes. In 
some soils, not disposed to dry out too rapidly nor to crust, crops 
are often made with little cultivation after weeds stop growing, 
especially where the plant has the benefit of coast influences, but 
cultivation for moisture retention, where needed, must be more 
thorough. 

On lands subject to excess of moisture, winter growth of po- 
tatoes can be facilitated by the ridge planting described in Chapter 
VII ; but where this is not likely to occur, reasonably flat culture is 
best, both in winter and summer. Where potatoes are to be irri- 
gated a slight moving of the soil toward the row, so as to make the 
interspace a little hollow to carry water, is admissible, but "hilling 
up" must not uncover the firm soil and expose the roots to too 
great heat and drought. Too high a ridge is also likely to bring 
the tubers within reach of the moth from whose eggs come the 
potato worms. During the latter part of the growth the tuber 
should be well covered with soil. 

Irrigation. — The potato should be kept growing thriftily from 
start to finish. If growth is arrested by drought, a new growth of 
small potatoes is apt to start upon renewal of moisture, to the detri- 
ment of the crop. The aim should be, then, to keep the soil ade- 
quately moist until maturity approaches. This is best done by run- 
ning small streams between the rows, the planting having been 
arranged for this distribution. As already stated, excessive irriga- 
tion is decidedly detrimental to the quality of the crop, and extra 
effort must be made for even distribution of the water. To allow 
low places to fill up with water is injurious and to allow the water 
to come in contact with the plant stems is also dangerous. A good, 
thorough and uniform wetting of the soil is often enough to finish 
the crop and it is seldom desirable to irrigate after the bloom ap- 
pears. Thorough surface cultivation should follow the irrigation, 
for the reasons stated in the chapter on that subject. 

In connection with the irrigation of potatoes it must be borne 
in mind that many troubles may arise from irregularity in the moist- 
ure supply of the growing tuber. Sometimes potatoes are planted 
on ground which is dry underneath instead of being well wet down 



GROWING POTATOES UNDER STRAW 245 

either by irrigation or rainfall. Potatoes grow more regularly if 
they do not have intermittent moisture supply, therefore, it is better 
to soak the ground before plowing, bringing the crop along that 
way if possible, or irrigating subsequently as may seem to be neces- 
sary, but in no case should the plant be allowed to arrest its growth 
and start again after irrigation. Of course, when potatoes have 
stopped growth and are subsequently irrigated, the irrigation can- 
not cure the trouble, but really increases it, because it causes a 
second growth to be made. The potato must be kept moving or it 
will move the wrong way. 

Mulching. — For the last twenty-five years the practice of grow- 
ing potatoes on the interior plains by the help of a straw mulch has 
been followed to some extent. It has recently been proposed at the 
East as a new method, but it is really quite old. The seed is plowed 
in with a shallow furrow so as to cover about three or four inches, 
then cover the whole surface with partly decayed straw from an 
old stack or with coarse manure. The mulch will retain moisture 
enough to mature a crop. There need be no plowing, hoeing, nor 
weeding, and it is held by those who advocate the method, that the 
labor of putting on straw is compensated for in the saving of hoe- 
ing and weeding. It is also a safe way to grow early potatoes in 
frosty places because the mulch protects the dormant buds at the 
base of the stems and new foliage quickly grows if the old is nipped 
by frost. Potato sprouts are sometimes saved from frost injury by 
turning light soil over them lightly ; subsequently they may be un- 
covered or allowed to grow through. 

Harvesting. — Potato diggers or plows are used to some extent 
in California, but the common method of gathering is by means of 
a long-handled shovel which is dexterously pushed beneath the 
plant so that all the tubers are thrown out at one operation. The 
yield of potatoes varies from five to nine tons per acre on good 
soil, properly cultivated. 

Storing. — As the summer and fall climate of California is al- 
most rainless and the frosts seldom severe enough to freeze a po- 
tato in a sack, the tubers are generally sacked and piled in the field 
for weeks and months. This advantage is turned by careless grow- 
ers into a disadvantage, because the potatoes are often seriously 
injured by heat and light and shriveled by dry, hot winds. Potatoes 
should be stored in a dark, dry place and screened from access by 
the moth which lays eggs also on stored potatoes and makes them 
wormy. If left in the field for a time the piles should be covered 
with straw or dry tops, thickly enough to exclude the moth. 

CHIEF TROUBLES OF THE POTATO GROWER. 

The pests and diseases which give the California potato grower 
most trouble are outlined by the late A. J. Cook as follows : 

There are three fungous diseases that affect the potato, tubers or vines, 
or both; the common scab, which disfigures the tubers; the rhizoctonia fun- 



246 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

gus, which affects the vines and roots so that the growing potatoes secure too 
little nutrition and fail to develop, thus looking like a bunch of grapes, hence 
the name "little potato." These often appear above ground. The third is the 
fusarium wilt, which also blights the vines and the roots and later the tubers, 
which become diseased and are often destroyed. 

Scab and rhizoctonia are carried in the soil which has previously borne 
diseased potatoes, and so contains the germs, ready to inoculate newly planted 
seed. Both these diseases also carry on affected seed, germs which serve to 
spread the destruction. These two evils are alike, in that seed affected by 
either one yields to treatment, if immersed for two hours in corrosive sub- 
limate, 1 to 1000 — 1 ounce to 8 gallons of water — or in formalin, 1 ounce to 
2 gallons of water. 

The rough eruptions (scab), so ugly in appearance, quickly reveal the 
presence of scab. It does not reduce the yield, but so mars the tubers that 
the price is materially lessened. 

The destructive rhizoctonia appears as specks of dirt from the size of a 
pinhead to quite sizable patches. They are not dirt, however, for washing 
does not remove them. We can, however, scrape them off with the finger nail 
without wounding the potato, which we cannot do if the spots are scab. When 
thus removed the potato is not wounded. Of course, scab, which often resem- 
bles rhizoctonia, cannot be removed without breaking the tissue. 

The third fungus, worse than rhizoctonia and far worse than scab, is the 
fusarium wilt. This bhghts the vine, kills the roots, stops growth and is fatal 
to the crop. The vines die prematurely, and the potatoes which are not suffi- 
ciently diseased to be observed on the exterior surface, will often show the 
work of the fungus if a slice is cut from the stem end of the tuber. A dis- 
colored spot, usually a ring on the cut surface, indicates that the disease is 
present and that the seed is unfit to plant. The nematode called an eelworm 
causes a rough, lumpy appearance of the skin and darkens the fleshy part, 
especially close to the peel. The roughened surface quickly reveals this affec- 
tion, and eelworm potatoes should never be planted. 

The tuber moth bores through the tubers and blackens the tissue. Keep 
the potatoes well covered with earth during the entire growing season and 
remove all, even the smallest, from the field as soon as dry after digging. The 
potatoes should be placed at once in moth-tight sacks, as the moths continue 
to work after the potatoes are stored, and thus it is imperative to carefully 
guard against their presence wherever potatoes are stored. 

The foregoing troubles are to be avoided by planting healthy 
seed in clean ground and they are contemplated in the law pro- 
viding for certification of seed potatoes in the law of 1915, which 
has been cited. A few other minor troubles may be noted. 

Potatoes Going to Tops. — Sometimes potatoes "grow all to 
tops" and have a great number of diminutive potatoes that also 
sprout and grow more small potatoes. Excessive top growth is 
generally due to over-stimulation of the plant during its early life. 
This may be due to excessive use of stable manure applied too near 
planting time or to the lack of adaptation of the variety to the local 
conditions. Where this excessive top growth occurs small pota- 
toes form but are not adequately enlarged by return flow from the 
top in process of maturing. The reason why these small potatoes 
take to sprouting instead of enlarging as they ought is due to the 
fact that the plant starting vigorously with too much moisture be- 
came afterward too dry and then starting again caused the small 



TROUBLES OF POTATO GROWERS 247 

potatoes after becoming abnormally checked in growth to break 
out with secondary tubers. 

Aerial Tubers. — Sometimes tubers appear upon the stems 
above ground and none are found below ground as they should be. 
They come about in this way; normally the potato tuber is an en- 
largement of an underground stem, formed by the action of the 
return flow of the sap of the plant. The upward flow of sap is 
largely through ducts in the central parts of the aerial stems. The 
downward flow of sap, after its elaboration by the leaf-surfaces, is 
through the tissue which lies just under the skin or bark of the 
stem and it deposits its burden in the tuber underground. When 
this tissue is injured in some way so that the return-flow of sap 
cannot pass along to making tubers underground it goes to work 
above the injuries and makes tubers in the air. The tubers are 
simply modified stems either above or below ground, as conditions 
may determine. Injury to the stem may be mechanical — such as a 
scrape with the hoe, the work of an insect or a disease. Anything 
that holds up the sap may do it, if the plant is otherwise vigorous 
enough for it. Fortunately it is of rare occurrence. 

Leaky Potatoes. — Sometimes potatoes go ofif quickly after 
sacking and discharge so much liquid that the trouble is called 
"leak" disease. It is caused by a fungus which exists in the soil 
and is usually introduced to the potato by a worm in digging. The 
only remedy so far known for this disease is to prevent the wound- 
ing of the tuber if they must be harvested during warm weather. 
After a severe frost occurs very little trouble is experienced from 
this disease. 

Potato Blights. — It is an interesting fact that the great "potato 
blight," as the world knows that disease, is not a great trouble of 
the potato in California — in fact, this disease is largely conditioned 
upon excessive moisture in the air and that seldom occurs during 
sufficient duration even in the rainy season except in the upper coast 
district. When that district was largely producing potatoes there 
was trouble with "blight," or more properly "late blight," until 
resistant varieties were introduced. Another disease known as 
"early blight," appearing in the spring time, is rather more abun- 
dant but even that is only active when the air is cool and moist. 
These blights are manifested by blackening of the top growth of 
leaf and stem. Wherever these blights occur the treatment is 
prompt spraying with the Bordeaux mixture as described in Chap- 
ter XXXVIII. It should be applied when the new growth is about 
six inches high and repeated two or three times at intervals of 
about ten days. 

Varieties. — As with other vegetables, California has tried many 
kinds of potatoes and grows very few on a commercial scale. The 
first notable varieties were brought from Chile and Peru in very 
early days, and are still grown to some extent, though the main 



248 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

crop is now made of newer kinds because in some localities the 
old varieties ran out and showed great susceptibility to blight. 

The blight, which was some years ago a serious menace to 
potato growing, has been largely circumvented by the introduction 
of new varieties which were thrifty while the old varieties on ad- 
jacent ground perished. For this reason new varieties should be 
tested in all localities. 

The potato which constitutes most of the market crop is the 
Burbank. For mid-season and late potatoes nothing compares with 
the Burbank. For early potatoes the old Early Rose still prevails 
widely, though Chili is encroaching upon it in northern and cen- 
tral California. Triumph is a little earlier and is gaining ground. 
Early White Rose constitutes the greatest part of the southern CaH- 
fornia crop, and Early Ohio is also popular. American Wonder, 
British Queen and Pearl are advancing as later varieties. 

Although there are local adaptations of different varieties, the 
character of the potato depends more upon local conditions of soil 
and climate than upon the variety, and the same variety from dif- 
ferent localities commands widely different prices in the market. 

SWEET POTATOES. 

The sweet potato is grown in nearly all parts of California 
where rich, sandy loam, suitably moist, can be found. Adequate 
heat is essential to quality and the upper coast region has localities 
which are deficient in this respect, but protection from coast in- 
fluences renders the product satisfactory, even though distance from 
the ocean be not great. As a rule, however, the crop in the upper 
half of the state is grown in the interior valleys, while at the south, 
both the coast slopes and the interior valleys yield a fine product. 
Where the soil is rich, warm, and free and the moisture sufficient, 
the sweet potato attains immense size and rightly ranks among the 
great things of California. 

The sweet potato is a strictly tender plant and a heat-lover as 
well, consequently there is no winter planting, though in drier parts 
of the state, free from frost, there may be fall plantings which carry 
their crop well into the winter and for more than half the year 
fresh potatoes may be taken from the ground, and by proper stor- 
ing the vegetable may be enjoyed throughout the year. 

Preparation of the Ground. — Planting is done at the begin- 
ning of the frost-free period and the date depends upon the locality. 
Usually it comes about the first of May, but preparation of the 
ground should begin earlier to secure good culture and moisture 
retention as described for other root crops. In regions of good 
rainfall moisture enough can thus be retained to make the crop or 
at least start it will. On dry plains it may be necessary to thor- 
oughly irrigate in the spring before the deep plowing with which 
the planting is to be made. On loose, lowland soils or in irrigated 
regions there is often abundant moisture within reach of the plant 



GROWING SWEET POTATOES 249 

to serve its purposes and then sweet potatoes may follow a hay or 
grain crop just as in the practice with common potatoes. Lands 
which receive enough moisture from below and yet are not wet 
and cold, produce the crop with least labor and expense, though 
it is quite feasible to proceed with direct irrigation both for plant- 
ing and after growth. The sweet potato sends its roots to great 
distances to find moisture. 

Growing the Plants. — The sweet potato grows readily by cut- 
tings from the growing vine planted out directly in the field if the 
ground is moist and warm. This method is followed to rapidly 
multiply a rare variety. The usual method is to plant the crop by 
using sprouts from potatoes on which growth is quickly started 
with bottom heat. Any of the hot-bed appliances described in the 
chapter on propagation may be used for this purpose on a small 
scale, but in the warmer parts of the state it can be done on a large 
scale for field planting without expense of glass or cloth covering. 
If, however, the hot-bed is used, care must be taken against over- 
heating. 

To grow plants in the open air it is usual to begin in March 
and dig a trench four or five feet wide and about 18 inches deep; 
the length according to the number of plants desired. The trench 
should be dug in light, well-drained soil, in a place protected from 
cold winds. Put in fresh horse manure and tramp down until 
about a foot of thickness is secured. Wet it well, but not enough 
to drain, and immediately cover with three or four inches of sandy 
soil. Upon this, place the sweet potatoes just as close as they can 
be put down without touching each other. When done, sift in fine 
sand between the potatoes and finally cover with four or five inches 
of very sandy loam, or even with sand. Keep this bed moist but 
not wet. Moisture and heat may be retained by covering the bed 
with two inches of loose straw to be removed as the shoots appear. 
The plants are ready for use in about eight weeks from the bed- 
ding of the tubers, when they show a few green leaves; they can 
be detached by pulling and will bring their outfit of small roots with 
them as they are pulled out of the sand. The tubers will then send 
up other shoots which can be planted later. 

Rather than begin in March as above stated, some begin as 
early as February 10 and frame the bed with boards and cover 
with boards at night to make it safe for the earlier start of plants, 
which is thus secured. 

Some prefer to uncover the potatoes, beginning at one end of 
the bed, removing the shoots and replacing the covering. This 
lessens the danger of breaking the shoots. Others split the pota- 
toes lengthwise and plant with the cut side down so that all the 
shoots come from the upper surface and are thus less liable to 
break in pulling. 

It takes about eight weeks for the plants to grow ready for 
transplanting, which is done any time up to June 1 with reasonable 



250 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

safety from fall frosts. It takes about 12,400 plants per acre. Each 
seed potato will produce a first crop of about eight plants and three- 
fourths as many at later pulHngs. If only the first pulling is to be 
used, it is safe to allow 90 or 100 square feet of hot-bed per acre 
to be planted. This will require about 300 pounds of seed potatoes 
per acre. Fewer seeds are required if the second and third crops 
of plants are used, but such plants will produce crops that much 
later. 

Planting. — Most sweet potatoes are grown on ridges about 
fourteen inches high and three feet apart to secure greater heat 
in the soil and to facilitate irrigation, but flat culture is also prac- 
ticed and in some regions is preferred. After the land is well 
prepared and harrowed down smooth, mark off the rows three feet 
apart and set the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. When the 
ground is thoroughly warmed by the advance of the season, say in 
April or May, take the shoots as described above — trimming the 
roots to a length of four inches, though some, planting by hand, 
use long roots. They must, of course, be kept from drying out, the 
young roots being very tender. In taking them to the field they 
must, therefore, be kept in a bucket of water, or in a wet sack, the 
former being the best. Plant out the shoots eighteen inches apart 
in the rows, one in a place, settling them down in the soil, deep 
enough to find permanent moisture. 

Sometimes when the object is to get unusually large potatoes, 
instead of pulling off and setting out the slips, the potato is lifted 
out and with every slip a small piece of the potato is cut out and 
planted with the slip. This method will bring the earliest potatoes, 
but the number of sets are many less than though the potato be 
allowed to remain in bed for their continued production. 

Recently a machine has come into use which digs a trench on 
the top of the ridge and drops water at whatever intervals are de- 
sired. Three men, including the driver, transplant two acres per 
day by machine. The machine opens trenches on two ridges at 
once, and closes them soon afterward. In the interim the two men 
sitting on the machine close to the ground, insert plants in the 
opened trenches about fourteen inches apart, holding them until the 
machine draws dirt around them. A water tank on the machine 
automatically wets the plants when set, and is refilled from the irri- 
gation ditch at the end of each row. 

Cultivation. — Cultivation for the purpose of weed killing and 
surface stirring is continued until the vines interfere and after that 
the vines cover the ground with a thick mat and discourage weed 
growth. 

Irrigation. — The plants are irrigated three or four times per 
season and cultivated after each except the last, when the vines are 
in the way. After the vines begin to run, need of irrigation is told 
by their tips, which show lack of water before any other part of 
the plant, by drooping. Water is then necessary at once. 



WAYS TO KEEP SWEET POTATOES 251 

Harvesting and Storage. — Use of the sweet potatoes may be- 
gin when they attain suitable size, but for keeping they must attain 
a good degree of maturity, but should not be subjected to frost for 
it is held that even frosting the vines injures the tubers, and it is 
advised to cut off the vines just above the ground if digging must 
be delayed. 

The first potatoes to be dug are those which seem most likely 
to get too large if allowed to mature, according to F. L. Landram, 
a pioneer sweet potato grower of Merced county. These earliest 
potatoes are dug in July, though immature, and are generally sold 
at three or four cents per pound in crates holding a little over 20 
pounds each. Later potatoes are sold in 12x12 crates, and those 
dug after August 1 are packed in standard 100-pound crates 12xl6x 
about 24 inches. They are also marketed in 100-pound sacks. 

There are three classes of potatoes : "hog feed" includes very 
slender potatoes and roots ; "seed" or "canning stock" includes those 
under about 1^ inches in diameter; salable potatoes are those over 
1^ inches in diameter, though extra large sizes are sometimes dis- 
counted. 

Some find the keeping of sweet potatoes somewhat difficult. 
Many pack the potatoes in dry sand and keep them in the house. 
This is expensive and is not a sure way. Many will rot and some- 
times only one-third of them will keep till spring. Storage in the 
open air with due protection against too great temperature changes 
and moisture is better. This method has been approved in Fresno 
county : 

Take stout stakes, say five to six feet long, and drive them into the 
ground in a row and five feet apart, in some dry place that is not sheltered 
by trees. Dig the potatoes and throw them up around the stakes to the height 
of four feet. For a large field a great many such rows may be necessary ; 
for a small patch perhaps one single stake will suffice. When all dug, put four 
inches of straw as covering. After a week or ten days, according to the 
weather, the potatoes will have undergone a sweating process. They first 
cover themselves with moisture, as if they had been dipped in water. This 
moisture gradually begins to disappear, and as soon as it does so it is time to 
throw off the straw. This should be done when the wind is blowing; the 
potato hills should be left open for three or four hours, or until the potatoes 
appear entirely dry. If the straw covering is taken off in the morning, the 
potatoes will be dry at noon. Then cover them again with three or four inches 
of fresh, dry straw, and on top of the straw put three or four inches of soil 
to keep out the cold. On the top of this must be placed a roof, which is easily 
made of shakes, nailed to strips of two by three and made in the shape of 
panels, to allow of easy handling and of repeated use year after year. Potatoes 
kept in this way will preserve perfectly until next spring. Very few, if any, 
will be found decayed. 

The Season. — Heavy shipping continues from August 1 to Jan- 
uary 1, though sweet potatoes are sometimes kept in cellars until 
April. If growers can get $1 per crate, however, they do not store 
many. In 1915 the price went down to 50 cents. In 1916 the low- 
est was about $1.15, and they were selling at $2.50 in mid-February. 



252 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Particularly careful handling is required for storage potatoes. The 
crop ranges from 50 to 125 crates per acre. Fifty crates are held 
to generally just about pay the cost of production. 

For Stock Feeding. — Cull sweet potatoes have been utilized as 
a hog feed for several years; and experience has shown that at 
$3.50 a wagon load they are an economical feed. L. D. Collins, of 
Denair, Stanislaus county, aims to make them available longer by 
running them through a root-shredder and drying them on fruit trays. 
In hot or windy weather they dry quickly and can then be stored 
in sacks. The fruit trays were not altogether satisfactory as they 
retain moisture; and that tends to rot the potatoes unless the trays 
are turned. To overcome this Mr. ColHns uses wire screen on a 
frame, allowing the air free circulation all around. The loss in 
weight in drying is about 60 per cent, depending somewhat on the 
length of time the potato has been dug. In Mr. Collins' experience 
in feeding fresh potatoes he has found that his hogs will consume 
three times as much weight of fresh sweets as they will barley, 
and d© better on them. 

Varieties. — Probably all the improved varieties have been in- 
troduced in California. The CaHfornia demand is for a variety 
which is rather dry and mealy when cooked, although the softer, 
sweeter sorts have some advocates. The most common variety is 
called the Californian but it is a Chinese sort introduced in early 
days. The Southern Queen and the Nansemonds are also popular, 
and the Jersey Red is grown to some extent in southern California. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
RADISHES. 

The Radish. — Raphanus satwiis. 
French, radis ; German, radies ; Dutch, radijs; Danish, haverdoedike ; 
Italian, ravanello ; Spanish, rabanito ; Portuguese, rabao. 

Horse-radish. — Cochlearia Armoracia. 
French, raifort sauvage; German, meerettig; Dutch, peperwortel ; Danish, 
peberrod; Italian, rafano; Spanish, taramago ; Portuguese, rabao de cavalho. 

The radish is a rehsh which can be had continuously through- 
out the year in most parts of CaHfornia, if proper soil and moisture 
conditions can be arranged. It is almost a hopeless task to under- 
take to secure a crisp, delicately flavored radish unless heat and 
moisture are favorable to quick growth of the plant. It takes some 
gardening skill, therefore, to produce good radishes in winter locali- 
ties with sharp frosts and heavy rainfall, while in regions of light 
frost and light rainfall, winter heat is usually adequate to satis- 
factory growth. 

The best soil for radishes is a rich, sandy loam, though any 
good garden soil will grow them if a small piece is improved for 
the purpose as described in Chapter IV. 

Preparation of the soil is essentially the same as that already 
described for other root-crops, and sowing, as already intimated, 
can be done whenever the soil is in good condition, if irrigation is 
available for use in the dry season, and there is free drainage in 
the winter. Temperature is, however, of more moment to the radish 
than to some other hardy garden plants, and during the colder 
months, the raised bed, as described in Chapter VII, located on the 
sunny side of a wind-break, will afford heat enough usually. In 
other places where cold and rain are greater the "warm heap" de- 
scribed in Chapter XI, may be used. By thus adapting the method 
to local conditions winter growth can be had anywhere in the valley 
and foothill regions of the state. Summer growth is mainly a ques- 
tion of soil-moisture which can be regulated by irrigation and cul- 
tivation. 

As the radish is naturally of quick growth and as crispness 
and mild flavor are largely conditioned on pushing it to the utmost 
of its speed, it can be grown to advantage as a catch crop here and 
there in the garden on ground that is temporarily out of use for a 
few weeks, or between the rows of more slowly growing vegetables. 
The gardener should always be ready to scatter good radish seed 
when he has a little stretch of light, rich, moist soil at command. 
A little attention and ingenuity will in this way secure a constant 
supply. 

[ 253 ] 



254 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Cooking Radishes. — Mr. Samuel Haigh, of San Jose, reports 
an experiment with cooking Long Scarlet radishes which he grew 
as large as carrots, being 1^ inches in diameter and six to eight 
inches long; solid and crisp, but just beginning to get keen. Peeling 
removes this, however, making the cooked vegetable very palatable 
and of an excellent flavor, superior to the common white turnip, 
which takes much longer to grow. 

Varieties. — Popular favor runs in the direction of the turnip- 
shaped varieties, of which there are very many. The long radishes, 
like the Long Scarlet, are, however, often chosen for home use. 
The Icicle is a beautiful long, white variety. The Early Scarlet 
Turnip is most largely grown and there are several strains of it 
varying in earliness and color. The French Breakfast, oval, tipped 
with white, stands next to the Scarlet Turnip sorts. The Italian 
market gardeners grow what is known as the "Half-Long," a va- 
riety of Rose Olive-Shaped and the Black Spanish, very desirable 
for winter growth. Epicure is small and very quick and beautifully 
colored red to white. The White Turnip, similar to Scarlet Turnip 
except in color, is popular with German gardeners, and the Chartier 
has some popularity as a large scarlet variety, shading to pink and 
thence to white at the root-tip. The Crimson Giant is very large 
and generally solid and crisp. The California Mammoth White, in- 
troduced by the Chinese, distances all others for size. It is pure 
white, mild-flavored and crisp, even though it may grow eighteen 
inches in length and three inches in diameter in six weeks, with 
interior heat on light soil, abundantly moist. The Long White 
Japanese or Japanese Summer, is also in the race for size, but is 
slower in reaching it. 

HORSE-RADISH. 

Horse-radish is a popular relish in California towns and is 
bottled on quite a large scale. The plant is easily grown and should 
be found in every farm garden. A start is most conveniently made 
by planting root sets. Mr. Ira W. Adams advises planting the roots 
or sets in rows two feet apart with the sets one foot apart in the 
rows, and three or four inches under the surface. On rich, moist 
soil, with the best of cultivation, one can raise roots that will weigh 
from one-half to three-quarters of a pound. When the roots are 
dug in the winter for use, break off all the small rootlets from one- 
quarter to one-half inch in diameter, cut into pieces from three to 
five inches long, leaving the top end square, and the bottom end 
slanting, so there will be no mistake in planting them upside down. 
Tie in small bunches and put into moist sand that has perfect drain- 
age and is exposed to the weather. In very cold, long, heavy rains 
it is well to cover with shakes, or short pieces of boards. A cool 
cellar is a good place to store them, but be careful the sand is never 
allowed to get dry, as the sets will not root nicely without continual 
moisture. Then during the winter, as the ground becomes warm 



HORSE-RADISH GROWING 255 

or early in the spring there will be nicely rooted sets ready for 
transplanting as before described. 

Mr. D. F. Reichard, of Los Angeles county, gives, to the Cali- 
fornia Cultivator, this advice : 

In planting horse-radish it is advisable to dig a trench or hole and have 
the plants six to ten inches below the surface, then as they grow carefully fill 
up to the level. If the soil is light this will not be necessary, as horse-radish 
will usually come through eight to ten inches of soil. This method of culture 
produces a long, perfect root. It must be remembered in planting that the 
old set entirely wastes away and the new plant starts from this set and grows 
upward, making another large root below the level of the point from which 
it starts. 

Another point of view is presented in this account given by 
Aggeler & Musser, of Los Angeles : 

The local supply is far below the demand. This condition should not 
exist, because it is a profitable crop. One grower realized $1100 from two 
acres. When asked why he discontinued growing it, he replied: "I have not 
the right soil. It requires a rich, sandy loam, frequent irrigation, but it must 
be well drained so that the soil does not remain muddy or sour. Then, too, 
there is so much disease or blight prevalent that one must get a clean start 
and keep clean by changing places as soon as the soil is infected." 

Though it is quite true that one should be somewhat critical 
about entering upon large commercial production and should not 
only examine his soil and moisture conditions as above suggested 
but also should guarantee his product by contracting at least part 
of it to a pickle maker or other large consumer, no such question 
should disturb the small grower for he can get good results on any 
garden soil with very little trouble. 

Formerly all horse-radish was of one kind, but the one now 
in favor in this state is known as the Bohemian — a recent intro- 
duction by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It is a much 
more rapid grower than the old variety in general use and is, there- 
fore ready for use a great deal earlier. Its large, white roots may 
be raised in almost any soil. The quality of this horse-radish is 
said to be far superior to the old variety. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
RHUBARB. 

Rhubarb or Pie Plant. — Rheum sp. 
French, rhubarbe ; German and Danish, rhabarber; Dutch, rabarber; 
Italian, rabarbaro ; Spanish and Portuguese, ruibarbo. 

Rhubarb attains grand size and quality in California if due 
attention is paid to the requirements of the plant, and it should 
have a place in every house garden. It enjoys very rich soil and 
will thrive on a great variety of soils, even from heavy clay to 
light peat, providing ample moisture is afforded it. On heavy, 
retentive soils it must have good cultivation or thick mulching to 
prevent loss of moisture and surface baking; on Hght, coarse soils 
either ample irrigation or natural sub-irrigation will keep the plant 
thrifty and vigorous. It does not enjoy high heat and drought, and 
reaches its best estate and is commercially produced in the coast 
valleys or on river bottom lands of the interior, but it can be 
very satisfactorily grown for home use on interior plains and mesas 
providing constant moisture is supplied ; partial shade is also grate- 
ful to its foliage in the interior, but is not necessary on the coast. 
Since the wide introduction of winter-growing rhubarb, which 
defies the frost and enjoys the ample moisture of the rainy season, 
the range of the plant has vastly increased in California and its 
commercial importance has greatly advanced. 

Culture. — Rhubarb is grown from seed or propagated by di- 
vision of the roots : the latter insures reproduction of the identical 
characters of the parent, while from seed there is always a chance 
of variation. 

Rhubarb plants may be grown from seed by preparing the 
ground in the same way already described for asparagus, and the 
same care of the seedling as there indicated will bring good, strong 
rhubarb roots for planting out as yearlings. Mr. Ira W. Adams 
gives the following special advice for rhubarb seedlings: 

Prepare the bed the same as for asparagus. Sow the seed in rows one 
foot apart, and one inch apart in the row in a little furrow one inch deep; 
tramp down lightly with the back of a steel rake and cover with the finest 
of soil, as the seeds are small and light. When the plants are an inch or two 
high, they can be transplanted into rows twelve inches apart, and four inches 
between the plants. By fall they will be fine, strong plants, and can be planted 
out the next spring in permanent rows. 

Root sets are made by dividing the roots of the older plants so 
that each piece shall have a bud or eye. The most vigorous plants, 
producing the largest leaves and thickest leaf-stems, should be se- 
lected for this purpose. 

[ 256 ] 




Ph 



'A 



WAYS WITH RHUBARB 257 

Planting. — Before planting either in field or garden the soil 
should be heavily manured and deeply turned in the fall so as to 
get the full benefit of the winter rains. Transplanting the old sum- 
mer varieties should be done when the plant is dormant, the soil in 
good working condition and warmth enough for growth antici- 
pated. The date will, of course, vary in different locahties, but 
February will usually be satisfactory for the summer growers. 

It is best to reset the eyes taken oft", as soon as a rain has 
moistened the ground late in the fall, according to J. B. Mendonca, 
a large rhubarb grower of Alameda county. This gives them the 
benefit of all the rest of the rains and makes them ready for early 
growth in spring. 

F. H. Williams, also of Alameda county, in getting sets for 
replanting, does not dig the roots out, but plows the dirt away 
from each side of the plant and cuts off the excess eyes with a 
sharp spade. After this the dirt is plowed back, so the old roots, 
undisturbed, may send out new feeders into the soft ground with- 
out the shock of resetting. 

The soil must not be too wet at transplanting or the roots may 
rot ; good warmth and moisture are favorable. The introduction of 
winter-growing varieties has modified transplanting practice. They 
are practically evergreen and active except for a short dormancy 
in the late summer, and, though capable of transplanting by cut- 
ting back the leaves all through the rainy season, are usually moved 
to best advantage from April to June, the latter period being avail- 
able on irrigated land. A June planting of the winter varieties may 
yield a good pulling of leaves by Thanksgiving. 

There are different ways of planting out, each with its own 
advocates. Roots set four feet apart each way give good oppor- 
tunity for cultivation both ways ; but some give more room by lay- 
ing off in six feet rows with the plants four feet apart in the row. 
Others plant in the garden, placing the plants two feet apart, if 
only one row is planted, and in four feet rows with the plants three 
feet apart if there are to be several rows. On good, strong deep 
soils, it is well to give plenty of room, for large growth of leaves 
is desired to impart vigor to the roots. Distance depends somewhat 
upon the variety, but nearly all growers aim at very large leaf 
stems, and these require ample space. 

J. B. Wagoner, however, in growing winter varieties, advocates 
close planting. He says : 

If you want a rhubarb crop, you must feed the plants — with nitrogen. If 
you feed them well, you may let the roots enlarge as much as they will, the 
new eyes will produce the stalks. Let the root get big — the bigger the better. 
Set your plants close together — 1^^ feet apart in rows 4y2 feet apart, 6000 
per acre — and give them plant food. When they are crowded close together, 
they occupy less land, they send up straight stalks that pack well, the leaves 
shade the stalks from sunburn, they shade the ground reducing evaporation, 
and, hence, irrigation, the soil does not bake and reflect the summer heat up 
to the stalks. The thickness of the leaves shades the stalks so they color well 
up to the end. When frost comes, the leaves protect the stalk again. 



258 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Treatment. — The plants should be allowed to retain all their 
leaves the first year after planting out, and there must be abundant 
moisture for summer growth if there is to be a heavy crop the 
second year. Frequent summer cultivation is desirable unless 
mulching is employed, and if it is the grower must be sure that 
his mulching is heavy enough to retain moisture. It is probably 
better to trust to cultivation and irrigation in most situations. With 
the fall rains the surface should be liberally dressed with manure 
and covered in as deeply as possible without injury to the roots. 
Shallow cultivation should follow before the weeds advance too 
far, to be repeated as necessary to keep the field clean. 

Winter growing varieties, planted out in the spring and sum- 
mer, irrigated, estabHsh themselves so strongly the first summer 
that some pulling can be done upon them the following winter. 
Even without irrigation, spring set plants will receive a new im- 
pulse with the first rain, grow riotously with the autumn heat and 
give large leaf stems by the holidays in the warmer parts of the state. 

Manuring and cultivation should be followed year after year 
to keep the soil rich and in good tilth. Some soils are, however, 
so rich naturally that such liberal manuring may not be necessary 
at first. The plant should not be too fully stripped of its leaves 
nor should the pulling be continued too late with the summer va- 
rieties. The following crop depends upon adequate leaf action — 
consequently the plant must have foliage and summer moisture to 
maintain it. 

Soil Shading and Enriching. — Mr. A. W. Lee, of Covina, holds 
that in interior places rhubarb is greatly helped by soil shading. 
He grows blackeye beans or cow peas between the rhubarb rows 
in the summer. It is not to protect the plants from the sun, but 
for its fertilizing value, especially the humus that it will produce; 
but, while it probably does not shade the plants, it shades the ground 
and keeps it moist if kept irrigated and cool, and this is a very ma- 
terial help in keeping the sun from injuring the plants. 

"If you are in a hurry for rhubarb results," says Mr. Lee, 
"and if your patch is badly run down or the fertility gone, 200 or 
300 pounds nitrate of soda per acre, used with manure, revives it. 
In applying commercial fertilizers, I furrow away both sides of 
the row, drop the fertilizer in, and cultivate to fill the furrows. 
Then a good irrigation is necessary to start the fertilizer to work. 
I use dried blood in the same way. I spread manure on top of the 
ground and cultivate or plow it in, rather than scraping it into the 
bottom of the furrow. Fresh cattle manure is best. Rhubarb uses 
lots of nitrogen. 

Slight Forcing of Summer Rhubarb. — Mr. R. E. Hodges notes 
interesting garden experience as follows: 

In our garden in San Mateo County, the rhubarb started to go to seed 
early this spring. We cut off the seed stalks before the sheaths bursted and 
stopped that tendency. But the leaves and stalks would not grow much. We 



VARIETIES OF RHUBARB 259 

put bottomless boxes over three of the seven plants, after pulling all leaves 
but the very smallest. Tv^ro v^reeks later the rhubarb was pulled to eat. That 
in the boxes averaged considerably over tvi^ice as large as the best of that 
outside. The boxes were just large enough to fit over the plants, forcing the 
smallest leaves to point upward. 

For early forcing for home use, take a deep box, make up a 
mixture of stable manure and garden soil, plant strong roots in 
this and water well. Place this in a dark shed or in the cellar and 
water every three weeks or so, and get forced rhubarb. 

Varieties. — The Monarch is largely grown. It has a very wide, 
flat stem. The Victoria has red, long stems, rather sharp acid, but 
a very productive sort and popular. Linnaeus is early, large, thick 
stems, of excellent flavor and less acid. Strawberry is largely 
grown in the great summer rhubarb district around San Lorenzo, 
Alameda county. 

The Crimson Winter, introduced from Australia by Luther 
Burbank about 1895, and sold by him to the trade in 1900, has 
revolutionized rhubarb growing in California by completely re- 
versing the market season. This variety and its improvements by 
Mr. Burbank and by others who have practiced selection, notably 
by J. B. Wagner, of Pasadena, who originated Wagner's Giant and 
has multiplied the rhubarb acreage of the state and vastly increased 
the serviceability and commercial suitability of the plant. It has 
precluded forcing in California and promises to render forcing un- 
profitable even in the wintry parts of the country because of the 
large supplies of open air rhubarb which are available for ship- 
ment from this state at all times of the year when the summer va- 
rieties grown in wintry climates are unproductive. 

The winter varieties are not reported satisfactory on the flat 
rich lands of Alameda county, where the chief crops of summer 
varieties are produced. For most profit they are grown on deep, 
light soils where frosts are very light. From such places they reach 
an early winter market and do not compete with summer varieties. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
SPINACH. 

Common Spinach. — Spinacia oleracea and spinosa. 
French, epinard; German, spinat; Dutch, spinazie; Danish, spinat; Italian, 
spinaccio ; Spanish, espinaca ; Portuguese, espinaf re. 

New Zealand Spinach. — Tetragonia expansa. 

Spinach is an all-the-year plant in California, and the house- 
gardener need never fail to have tender foliage for boiling if he 
arranges for successive sowings and knows the varieties and species 
which befit the changing seasons, for he can choose for fall sowing 
that which is perfectly hardy and thrifty in the California winter, 
and for spring sowing that which will furnish succulent pluckings 
even through the heat and drought of the interior summer. But 
though this is so, it is chiefly as affording winter greens that spinach 
is grown for the market. The summer furnishes so large a variety 
of table vegetables that it is chiefly in winter that the housewife 
turns her attention to pot-herbs. 

Culture. — As we are dealing with two entirely distinct genera 
of plants under the name "spinach," and as they have very little in 
common except their similar culinary use, it will be necessary to 
write in specific terms of their culture. 

The varieties of common spinach {spinacia) dislike heat and 
drought and enjoy moist, rich soil and moderate temperature. 
These conditions are afforded by all California gardens in the win- 
ter, providing the grower will heed the suggestions for ridge-, 
culture, etc., given in previous chapters, for escaping surplus water 
and securing suitable growing-temperature in the winter garden. 
With these provisions it is easy to secure winter spinach by fol- 
lowing the suggestions given for the winter growth of lettuce, peas 
or other hardy vegetables. What has been said of fall sowing of 
these, applies also to spinach. The plant makes best growth from 
seed sown in place, and if the seed is good it may be thinly sown, 
for the plants should not be allowed to crowd each other. They 
should have from six to nine inches space in the row and should be 
kept free from encroachment of weeds. To keep the soil from 
packing by rains, and to push the plants as well, a top dressing of 
fine manure may be placed to be leached out by the rains. In a 
garden with permanent walks, spinach may be sown as a border 
plant, which brings it within easy reach for the frequent plucking 
of leaves. The plants will endure this, and by means of new growth 
on old plants and successive sowings, it is feasible, as above stated, 
to have spinach always ready. The variety chiefly used is the 
"Large Prickly," although the "Long Standing" is also esteemed 
[ 260 ] 



SUMMER AND WINTER SPINACH 261 

because of its long leaf growth before sending up seed stems. The 
Round of Summer is also considerably used. 

For greens in the hot and dry summer and dry autumn, the 
New Zealand spinach is making a fine record in California. It was 
introduced and widely distributed by the State University, and has 
been handled for years by the California seedsmen on the basis of 
its local suitability. Even in interior situations it grows on dry 
ground all summer, and maintains rich green color until frost kills 
the top growth. The stems and foliage are very sensitive to frost, 
but the root is more hardy and gives new growth and is useful in 
the spring. The plant sends out shoots of considerable length which 
may be cut off for cooking. Its tenderness and flavor are vouched 
for by many growers. Early summer cutting may be had by start- 
ing plants with bottom heat and planting out like eggplants, but in 
our long summer, sowing in the spring after frost danger is over, 
gives abundant foliage in late summer and autumn. 

Spinach has recently added greatly to its commercial import- 
ance in California by the operation of the canners. Large fields 
are grown especially to fill contracts with the canneries. It is the 
winter growing varieties which serve this demand. They are grown 
by rainfall from fall planting. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



SQUASHES. 

Mammoth Squashes or Pumpkins. — Cucurbita maxima. 
French, potirons ; German, melonen-kurbiss ; Danish, centner-groeskar ; 
Italian, zucca ; Spanish, calabaza totanera. 

Marrows and Scallops. — Cucurbita pepo. 
The species moschata also contributes same horticultural varieties. 

The California-grown squashes are all noted for prodigious 
size and the acre-product is also immense. Squashes have been 
used from the early days as exponents of size in California vege- 
tables, at all distant and local exhibitions, and the statistics thereof 
would fill a volume. Weights of single specimens have been at- 
tained in excess of three hundred pounds, and field crops above 
thirty tons to the acre. To avoid exaggeration and at the same 
time present the truth about the California squash in a picturesque 
manner, a single record is presented from the writer's collection of 
cucurbitous literature. Frank E. Kellogg, of Goleta, Santa Bar- 
bara county, personally known to the writer as a man of truth 
and probity, furnishes this statement: 

I planted my squashes in May, and harvested them in October. Finding 
that they w^ere unusually large, I weighed ten of the largest and found that 
their aggregate weight was one ton and fifty odd pounds, the largest one 
weighing 225 pounds. This squash was exhibited at the county fair and re- 
ceived the first prize. On the 15th of November, which was my boy's sixteenth 
birthday, I cut open one of the other squashes, that weighed 210 pounds, and 
took out the seeds; my boy then got into it and I put the piece together and 
completely closed him in, the parts coming tight together. I then persuaded 
my eighteen-year-old daughter to get into it and I closed her in, in the same 
manner. My daughter's weight was 110 pounds. I then put two seven-year- 
old boys in at once. I then put my three little girls in at once ; they were aged 
respectively six, four and two years, their united weight being 116 pounds. 
I placed the largest child in the bottom and the little one on the top and then 
put on the lid; the squash was cut so that the top could be easily put on or 
removed. The squash was three feet four or five inches in length. 

The growth and productiveness of the plant in specially favor- 
able places are proportional to the size of the fruit ; vine growth of 
fifty feet and from thirty to forty-two good sized fruits to the single 
vine are recorded — a good wagon load to the vine. 

Localities and Soils. — The greatest specimens and the heaviest 
crops are produced on rich, retentive loams. These are rather 
heavy soils and are usually the lowlands of either coast or interior 
valleys. But great squashes are not confined to such soils. Lighter 
soils, if abundantly rich and adequately moist, are also very satis- 
factory, and in fact any good soil deeply plowed and properly culti- 

[ 262 ] 



GROWING SQUASHES 263 

vated, until the vines cover the ground, may be expected to give 
good returns. For this reason the dairy farmer who has suitable 
land, grows squash in large quantity for fall and early winter feed- 
ing; the mixed farmer enters squash as a stated item in his list of 
crops, and the fruit farmer is quite apt to grow squash between 
the trees in his young orchard, to contribute to his family milk 
supply. 

The squash may often help to use waste land. J. W. Scott, 
of Stanislaus county, keeps his ditch banks cultivated all spring that 
he could grow squash on them for hog feed in the fall. In ordi- 
nary years a big lot of land is wasted in ditch banks, but by keep- 
ing them cultivated there is room for two rows of squash on Mr. 
Scott's ditches, and as the land in them sub-irrigates all during the 
summer they will require very little care after planting. Mr. Scott 
uses a crooked neck variety because of less damage from worms. 

The squash is somewhat exacting in its moisture supply, and 
does not respond well on light, dry soils unless irrigated. With 
enough moisture the plant endures the highest interior heat and 
records large production. Excessive irrigation is, however, to be 
avoided, for it is apt to diminish the fruiting. 

Culture. — The squash plant is very tender; it is destroyed by 
frost and the seed is apt to fail in cold ground. The proper prac- 
tice is to have the soil previously well cultivated, but to delay plant- 
ing seed or transplanting seedlings from the covered bed until the 
time is frost-free and the soil warm. The culture of the squash is, 
therefore, like that already prescribed for the cucumber and for 
melons, in Chapters XXI and XXIV, to which the reader is re- 
ferred. The bush varieties of squashes follow the cucumber in 
distances, and the running varieties follow the watermelon dis- 
tances. There is, however, some difference in the practice of grow- 
ers of the running varieties; some advocate rather close planting, 
as six by six or eight by eight feet in squares, and others plant at 
wider distances, even to setting two plants in a place at intervals of 
fourteen feet apart. It is impossible to state any specific distance 
at best ; it is to be determined locally according to the growth which 
the local soil and climate produce. One is apt to err on the side 
of crowding than otherwise. 

Care must be had not to cover the seed too deeply. It must 
be firmly placed in moist soil and covered enough to avoid quick 
drying. The suggestions in Chapter XI on propagation are as defi- 
nite as they can be made, according to the character of the soils 
employed. 

Cultivation must be begun as soon as possible after planting, 
to save moisture from loss either by weeds or evaporation, and 
must be frequent for the same reason. Nothing looks more dis- 
tressful than squash vines perishing on baked clay or dry sandy 
soil which, if properly cultivated from the start, would have sus- 
tained a splendid growth. 



264 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Garden Culture. — In addition to injunctions for thorough 
working of the soil and adequate irrigation, there is the opportu- 
nity in garden culture to produce grand results by special fertiliza- 
tion. Careful use of the compost or liquid manure described in 
Chapter VIII, produces marvelous results. 

Varieties. — We have in California probably all the kinds of 
squash known to horticulture. Some amateurs take special interest 
in such collections, and scores of varieties representing the whole 
gourd family have been shown in state fair exhibits. And yet the 
bulk of the product is made of very few varieties. 

Of the bush forms which are relied upon for summer squash, 
the Scallops comprise most of the crop ; both the early white and 
yellow being grown — the former preferred. The yellow crookneck 
is also grown to some extent, and its advocates hold it best adapted 
•to early planting because less liable to frost injury, but it must not 
be trusted too far. The Italian and Boston marrows have a few 
warm advocates. 

Of the winter squash for table use, the Hubbard and the Red 
or Golden Hubbard, which is a little earlier, are chiefly grown, 
while the Boston Marrow, with sweet, high colored flesh, is a favor- 
ite with the canners. The field squash crop is made of several varie- 
ties. The California Marrowfat, a splendid, orange-colored squash, 
takes the lead, while associated with it in the same field may be 
found the Mammoth Chile, which is usually the sort, more or less 
pure, which yields the largest specimens. There is also a very large 
winter crookneck, very prolific and rather more hardy in trying 
situations, but not so good in keeping quality as the preceding. Here 
and there may be found a field of the old-fashioned New England 
pumpkin, and fair exhibits usually bring to light both the Etampes 
and Tours pumpkins, but the large orange and light olive fruits 
are named squashes in the California vernacular, and are pre- 
ferred. There is much confusion in the terms "squash" and "pump- 
kin," and there are many chance hybrids which await analysis by 
some cucurbitous specialist. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE TOMATO. 

Tomato or Love Apple. — Lycopersicum esculentum. 
French, German, Spanish and Portuguese, tomate ; Dutch, tomaat ; Italian, 
poino d'oro. 

The tomato is one of the most popular, prohfic, and profitable 
of California vegetables, and is by far the greatest of all the canned 
product, as shown in Chapter I. It is grown everywhere during 
the local occurrences of the frost-free period, and in our thermal 
situations the fruit can be gathered all the year. The earliest fruit 
in our local markets and the earliest shipments to the East are 
gathered from vines which have continued growth from the pre- 
vious summer and autumn, and, encountering no killing frost, are 
able to fruit through the early winter months. Favorable places 
in the southern coast counties are best known for this winter crop. 
The winter-grown fruit is, of course, inferior to the summer and 
fall crop, though it is excellent enough to command high prices for 
table use until the earliest yield from spring plantings is to be had. 
When this new crop comes in, the fruit from the hold-over plants 
becomes cheaper, but is still marketed until the new crop becomes 
abundant. In this way one year's plants in southern thermal situ- 
ations continue production near to the yield of the following year 
in the earliest interior sections at the north, and the tomato supply 
from open air plants is almost continuous throughout the year, 
though the supply regions are hundreds of miles distant from 
each other. The fact that the North produces earlier spring to- 
matoes from new plants than the south is difificult for distant stu- 
dents to realize. It is conditioned upon ocean influences and local 
topography, which at the South prevents frost which winter-kill 
the old plants at the North, and at the same time postpone 
spring heat at the South, which is attained earlier in sheltered 
places in the interior at the North from which ocean influences 
are excluded. There are places in the interior at the South, east 
of the high mountain range, which should be earlier than either 
the southern coast or the northern interior, but this theoretical ad- 
vantage has not yet been realized in large production as high heat 
seems to come on so soon after planting out in March that fruiting 
is reduced. 

In the all-the-year California demand for the tomato, it is 
necessary to bring some fruit from Mexico and from the forcing 
houses of the southern states, and it is probable that more forcing 
of tomatoes will be undertaken in this state in the future. It is a 
question, however, whether we should take to forcing under glass 

[ 265 ] 



266 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

or make use of cozy nooks where tomatoes need no such appHances. 
Mr. G. P. Rixford, of San Francisco, informed us in May, 1916, 
that he had seen a three-year-old tomato plant, still producing fruit, 
in the vicinity of Porterville, Tulare county. At another place m 
the same region he saw a one-year-old plant with plenty of ripe 
tomatoes. , 

No vegetable has advanced so rapidly in public esteem during 
the last decade as the tomato, and in addition to our great output 
of canned tomatoes California shipped in 1916 about twelve hun- 
dred carloads from August to January, which were chiefly grown 
in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Other large producing regions 
are around the bay of San Francisco and in the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin valleys. 

Shipments of fresh tomatoes are not only in late fall and early 
winter to the East but in spring and early summer many carloads 
go to the upper coast states and to mountain states, where the crop 
is late or difficult to grow at all. 

Requirements of the Tomato. — For spring planting of tomatoes 
which are to attain their chief growth before the close of the rainy 
season, somewhat elevated situations, above the lowland frosts, and 
with light, warm soils and free drainage, should be selected. Some- 
times frosts will occasion replanting, for which a stock of thrifty 
plants should always be in readiness. It is idle to attempt the 
growth of early tomatoes on a commercial scale except on situa- 
tions naturally fitted for them. In the family garden slight cov- 
ering from frost can be successfully undertaken. 

For the main crop of tomatoes, rich, lower lands, either 
naturally retentive of moisture or supplied therewith by irrigation, 
are usually employed. Even heavy valley soils are profitably used 
by thorough preparation before planting and cultivation afterward. 
Late planting can be practiced and immense yields are secured for 
harvesting in September and October, when the fruit is of superior 
solidity and the canneries are clear of their summer fruit work 
and can turn their full capacity to this most popular canned vege- 
table. In some parts of the state, November and December toma- 
toes are very profitable when autumn frosts and rains are light. 

The moisture requirements of the tomato are moderate, but 
they must be adequately met. Stunted vines and small, inferior 
fruit are the results of drought. High heat can be endured and 
favors growth, provided ample moisture is available. The more 
moderate heat of the coast regions and the interior river bottorns 
is, however, adequate for full development of the plant, and it is 
attained with much less moisture than on the higher lands of the 
interior. For this reason splendid crops are secured without irri- 
gation on retentive soils in valleys of sufficient rainfall, even if the 
plants are not set until the opening of the dry season— provided 
suitable winter and spring working is given to prevent evaporation 
and to hold moisture near the surface. On lands moistened by 



HOW TO START TOMATO PLANTS 



267 



underflow splendid tomatoes can be grown without irrigation all 
through the local frost-free period. 

Groiving Plants for the Garden. — Tomato plants may be grown 
from stem cuttings as described in Chapter XI, but they are usually 
grown from seed and the best plants are those produced with mod- 
erate heat. They need protection from cold rather than forcing 
heat, as our day temperatures from February onward are almost 
always adequate. For early starting of plants some bottom heat 
is often desirable and can be profitably used if care is taken for 
free admission of air and subsequent hardening of the plants by 
later growth under protection but at lower temperatures. The 
considerations urged in the chapter on propagation for the hand- 
ling of seeds and seedlings have special applicability to the growth 
of tomato plants. For the home garden there is perhaps no better 
way of growing plants than that of Ira W. Adams, as follows : 

Plant the seed about the middle of February in a small box two inches 
in depth and keep in the house by a south window in a moderately warm 
room. On warm, sunny days, put them outdoors, and let tliem remain out 
day and night whenever the weather is warm enough ; in this way they will 
make stocky plants and be much hardier than if raised altogether in the 
house. The soil should be rich and mellow, and always kept a little moist. 
When the plants appear, thin out to an inch apart. As soon as the plants 
begin to crowd each other, transplant to another box, about four inches in 
depth and give them a space of four inches. By the time they crowd each 
other again they can be transplanted outdoors on the south side of the house 
or barn into a good-sized bed of rich soil. Here they can remain until they 
get to be large, strong, hardy plants, with very large, fibrous roots. When 
all danger of frost is over, take a sharp spade and cut out a square of dirt 
with each plant, put into rows six feet apart, with the plants the same dis- 
tance in the row. Plants can be transplanted in this way when over a foot 
high and in blossom. By transplanting them just at night, or on a cloudy 
day, they will hardly ever show a wilted leaf. 

Another way to secure large plants for garden planting is to 
start them in a seed-box, in the house, or with bottom heat as de- 
scribed in the chapter on propagation, and then transplant when 
small, into growing cases made of discarded fruit cans. Select 
those of similar size, throw them on a burning brush pile for a few 
minutes, when the tops and bottoms will drop out, and the seams 
on the sides will open, leaving a smooth tin shell. Tie a string 
around each to keep it from spreading. Set them in a box or frame 
made of four boards. Fill the cans and the spaces between them 
with good friable soil, set a small plant in the center of each shell, 
sprinkle well and keep moist. When the plants are well grown 
they may be transplanted in the garden. Take the cans carefully 
out of the frames, grasping the cans firmly to prevent the plants 
and soil slipping out; set them in a box or wheelbarrow and move 
them where wanted. Prepare the soil by working in a shovelful of 
well-rotted manure where a plant is to stand, but this is not re- 
quired if the soil is rich. Dig a hole deep enough to set the upper 
rim of the can level with the ground, cut the string and fill up and 



268 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

press the soil firmly around the can, then by spreading the top of 
the can a trifle, it can be drawn out over the plants without dis- 
turbing the roots. If the weather is dry and warm, water may be 
used at transplanting — drawing loose soil around the plant after 
the water soaks away. 

It is also practicable to use small containers in the hot-bed, 
such as small pasteboard folders, berry baskets, etc., as described in 
Chapter XL In such case the seed is planted in the container and 
the plants thinned to one and set out later without removing the 
container, which will soon decay in moist soil. 

Grozving Plants for Field Planting. — The above methods will 
produce plants of great size and vigor to delight the amateur. For 
a field crop it is hardly practicable to grow and handle plants in 
such an expensive way, and satisfactory results can be attained with 
much less labor. For late planting they may be grown in quantity 
in a cold frame with cloth cover or in a raised bed with slight pro- 
tection from frost and sheltered from cold winds, or even on the 
open ground in frostless places. Large quantities are often grown 
from the seed by simply thinning the seedlings as they stand, though 
the transplanted seedlings are always more thrifty and stocky. They 
have a much better root-system, and grow more thriftily after trans- 
planting. Take the seedlings when they have come in the rough 
leaf, and with a small hardwood stick, made pointed at one end, 
take up the young plants and dibble them in clear down to the seed 
leaf. Place them about three inches apart each way, water them 
well, and in a few days they will begin to grow, and in this way 
fine, stocky plants can be grown almost ready to blossom when 
they are set out in the open ground where they are to remain. 
There is nothing gained by setting out tomatoes in the open ground 
when they are too small ; if anything, time is lost by doing so, while 
a large, stocky plant has plenty of fine fibrous roots, and is rapidly 
established in its new place. 

A detailed account of growing tomato plants in open seed-beds 
for field planting is given by Prof. S. S. Rogers* as follows : 

The customary method for raising the plants in the seed-beds is by 
sowing the seed in drills from three to six inches apart or by broadcasting. 
The former method is preferable for the grower who has had a limited ex- 
perience or for purposes of producing rapidly growing plants. Soil which 
is used for this purpose should be light and worked to a very fine condi- 
tion of tilth before seeding. It is desirable also to spade under a heavy 
coating of stable manure long enough in advance of seeding to insure 
thorough rotting. It will aid in germinating the seed if burlap or muslin 
be placed on the surface of the ground until the plants have appeared, at 
which time it should be removed. The seed should be covered with from 
one-quarter to one-half inch, and sand is found desirable, especially if the 
soil in the bed is of a heavy nature. Beds should be located on a well- 
drained spot, preferably on the south side of a fence or building. Water 
should be piped to the beds so that they may be easily sprinkled. The beds 
should be sprinkled often enough to keep the surface moist, watering fre- 
quently rather than in large amounts at longer intervals. Many growers 

*In Circular 147 of University Experiment Station, Berkeley. 



FIELD CULTURE OF TOMATOES 269 

sprinkle lightly once or twice a day until the plants have appeared at the 
surface. Where the surface covering has been used water may be applied 
through it. Care must be taken not to have the soil too wet, for the young 
plants are very hable to injury. Where very early plants are desired, 
growers sometimes heat the water before applying it. After the seedlings 
appear watering should be done very carefully and should be governed 
entirely by the condition of the plants and there is more danger from too 
much than too little irrigation. During cloudy weather, the beds should 
not be watered unless absolutely necessary and the sprinkling should be 
done in the morning so the surface and the tops of the plants may dry 
before night. 

After the seedlings are from two to four inches in height they should 
be thinned to two to five inches between plants ; the beds carefully weeded 
and if in drills, the soil between the rows thoroughly stirred. A week or so 
before the plants are to be taken from the beds, watering should be stopped 
and if they have been grown under some protection, this should gradually 
be removed in order that they may become "hardened off," for if the plants 
are removed when they are growing rapidly, it is difficult to get them estab- 
lished without seriously checking their growth. A few hours before remov- 
ing the plants, the beds should be thoroughly wet to aid in preserving the 
fibrous roots. If the plants have grown too large, the tops should be cut 
off to about six or eight inches from the ground before being transplanted. 
An experienced grower may be able to take up plants properly by pulling 
them up, but it is best to use a shovel or trowel, cutting off the roots about 
four inches below the surface and taking up with adhering earth. The 
plants may either be placed in pans or in baskets, or rolled in sacks and 
carried to the field, care being taken not to expose their roots to the air 
longer than is necessary. 

Field Planting of Tomatoes. — Preparation of land for tomatoes 
should begin early in the rainy season, as for beans, corn or melons, 
to render the soil absorptive of moisture and to secure good deep 
tilth. Re-working in the spring, and cultivation until it is safe to 
plant out the tomatoes, keeps the soil in fine condition, saves moist- 
ure and insures a crop at minimum cost. Crops are often grown 
on spring plowing alone, but it is an uphill task, and attended by 
great risk of failure, if spring rains are scant, as they often are. 

Field planting is generally done by hand, sometimes at the 
intersection of cross-markings, but often with less care, by placing 
the plants firmly on the side of a furrow and covering with another 
furrow. Some large growers use the transplanting machine men- 
tioned for sweet potatoes, and it works well when the soil is in 
good condition. A special note made of this machine as it was 
seen at work is as follows : 

On a ten-acre field in Solano county three men were planting tomatoes 
early in May, as fast as the horses could walk. A middle-break plow is 
fastened between two wheels at the end of a wagon tongue. Following this 
is a knife between two four-foot wheels, which digs deep in the ground and 
is flared into two blades behind, to leave an opening for the plants. A barrel 
above the middle-break supplies water through a hose to this opening. One 
man drives, two men ride seats close to the ground so they can take the 
tomato plants from the platforms in front of them and place them in the 
freshly moistened opening as the machine travels. Two curved knives fol- 
low the cutter knife to rake the dirt tight up to the plant. The tomatoes 
were being set about five feet apart each way and about six inches deep. 
They promptly wilted in the noonday sun, but recovered the first night. 



270 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

For late planting especially, and in light soils, it is desirable 
to set the plants quite deeply in the soil. The rule with some grow- 
ers is to set the plant half the length of the stem deeper than it 
stood in the seed-bed and in light, dry interior soils the stem has 
been entirely buried with good results. Depth of planting depends 
upon the character of the soil and its content of moisture. Where 
moisture is to be abundant it is better to have the roots nearer the 
surface. 

Distance depends upon variety. The usual distance is six feet 
apart each way or four by six for the standard growers, but some 
plant more widely, and dwarf varieties are set at intervals of 
four feet. 

Summer Treatment. — Very seldom is any effort made even in 
garden culture to support the plant above the earth surface. As the 
crop is largely grown without irrigation or with sub-irrigation by 
seepage from ditches, the earth surface is always warm and dry, 
and rot is almost unknown. The soil should be cultivated as long 
as it can be done without injury to the prostrate plants, and hoeing 
to prevent baking of the soil around the stem should be faithfully 
done as long as practicable. Two or three hoeings and four or 
five cultivations are usually given. Well-grown plants on rich, moist 
soils almost cover the surface even when given the widest distances. 

It is commonly believed that excessive growth of foliage re- 
tards ripening and reduces fruitage. Whenever this occurs, as on 
very rich and moist interior soils, free cutting back of the plants 
with a scythe, is practiced with good results. Summer pruning of 
over-rank garden plants is also desirable. 

Irrigation. — As already stated, the tomato abhors dry soil, and 
in some situations irrigation is essential. Care must be had against 
over-irrigation, especially in the coast region, where proper plant- 
ing and cultivation will give satisfactory results with the natural 
moisture. It must be remembered that it is not desirable to get a 
large vine-growth but much fruit on a relatively small plant. Not 
only does excessive watering during the early growth of the plant 
cause dropping of blossoms and promote foliage at the expense of 
fruit, but too much water after fruit is set is apt to give a tomato 
which slices up into cart-wheels instead of firm and solid discs of 
flesh. Most growers cultivate too slackly, especially when irriga- 
tion water is used. 

Irrigation by flooding is sometimes successfully practiced, but 
application of water which does not wet the surface beneath the 
plants is preferred. 

Tomatoes With Much Work and Water. — Quite a departure 
in all respects from general California methods are those of Mr. 
S. Dalforno, of Merced county, who shipped 3500 20-pound boxes 
of tomatoes in 1916 from 14,000 plants on his adobe soil. The 
plants were transplanted in mid-February from hot-beds to cold- 
frames, being set an inch deeper than they were in the hot-bed, but 



VARIETIES OF TOMATOES 271 

not over the seed leaves. They were transplanted to the field in 
April when about 12 inches tall, having already in some cases had 
their laterals taken off. The plants were put one foot apart in 
trenches three feet apart and were set about six inches deep. A 
light irrigation was given at planting, the ground being cold. A 
stake about four feet high was placed beside each plant which was 
tied to it with coarse string. About 10 to 15 days after the first 
watering, a heavier irrigation was given, as the ground was warmer 
then. Through the hot weather water was given every three or 
four days. After the first irrigation, ground was cultivated toward 
the vines to keep water away from them. As they grew, they were 
suckered three times in the season, leaving only one leader to grow 
up beside the stake. Its terminal bud was pinched off at four feet 
high and the energy of the plants went mostly into producing fine, 
big, smooth, clean fruit. The stakes and staking more than paid for 
themselves in increased quantity and quality of crop, as well as 
labor saved in picking. The tomatoes set in three distinct crops a 
foot apart on the vines. 

Picking Tomatoes. — Tomatoes for shipping should always be 
picked right. For such purpose the fruit should be picked when 
slightly blushed, not by squeezing or pulling. Encircle it with all 
the fingers and twist carefully, leaving the stem on the vine, or rub 
it off afterward, if it parts from the vine. Do not leave the stem 
end on the fruit. Pick in shallow boxes, not in deep pails or bas- 
kets, and use two receivers ; one for perfect fruit, the other for 
culls. Do not handle the fruit roughly, even if it seems very firm. 

Yield. — With all conditions favorable, tomatoes make a very 
large return. Twelve and a half to fifteen tons of marketable to- 
matoes have been gathered as an average per acre from large tracts, 
and yields as high as twenty-five tons have been reported. The 
largest specimen of which the writer has record was grown in Cala- 
veras county, with the following dimensions : circumference, twenty- 
two and one-half inches ; diameter at widest place, eight inches ; 
weight, four and one-half pounds. Mr. Ira W. Adams reports that 
he grew one year one hundred and thirty-six pounds of ripe toma- 
toes from one vine, and when the frost came picked thirty-four 
pounds of green ones. This vine covered a space of nearly eight 
feet square ; it grew on the edge of a ditch used for running water 
to blackberry vines. It was an instance of ample irrigation by 
seepage. 

Varieties. — California grows all the many improved tomatoes 
with which American seedsmen have enriched our vegetable list, 
and new varieties should always be looked for in California seeds- 
men's catalogues. They always offer choice yellow varieties for 
preserving. Varieties which include those commercially most prom- 
inent, are few and are as follows : 

Sparks Earliana : very early, tall growing ; fruit large, smooth, scarlet ; 
flesh deep red, solid. 



272 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Chalk's Early Jewel: nearly as early; fruit large, smooth, regular in form 
and ripening evenly ; bright scarlet ; continuous bearing. 

Dwarf Champion : low growing, upright ; fruit medium, pink to purplish 
red, according to locality; popular in the interior heat, especially at the south 
and in the foothills of central California. 

Stone : tall and fruitful ; fruit large, smooth, uniform, bright red, solid ; 
widely popular in California for canning and shipping. A Dwarf Stone, 
resembling Dwarf Champion in growth is also a good shipping variety at 
the south and New Improved Stone is also approved in that part of the state. 

San Filippo : firm and of good color ; popular in the San Francisco bay 
district. 

Ponderosa : a strong growing vine ; fruit very large, somewhat irregular 
and variable in color, usually light red ; flesh thick but not always firm. 

Trophy : vigorous and productive ; fruit deep red, somewhat irregular, 
solid and firm in the true type, with ring-mark at apex ; chiefly grown for 
canning in Alameda county, displacing Stone. 

San Jose Canner : large, scarlet, smooth and solid and very productive ; 
fine table variety and approved by canners. 

There is an opinion current among California growers that 
even the best of the eastern improved tomatoes are still further im- 
proved by California growing conditions if constant selection is 
practiced to preserve the best types. For instance the "Trophy" is 
very largely grown as a late tomato for canners' use, and planters 
insist upon securing California grown seed, but careless seed saving 
resulted in Trophies widely different from the true type and very 
inferior. 

In each of the large growing districts there is much to be 
learned about the locally most satisfactory varieties by observation 
and inquiry. Cannery managers and field men should also be con- 
sulted as to varieties most acceptable for their uses. The amateur, 
however, is not hampered by such requirements and can range the 
large lists as he pleases. 

TOMATO TROUBLES. 

The tomato plant has a number of diseases of which the plant 
pathologists of the University have made close study for several 
years and of which Circular 147 by Prof. Rogers, to which allusion 
has been made earlier in this chapter, gives the latest account. The 
first to be encountered, that is in the seed-bed, is "damping off," 
which has been discussed in Chapter XL Next is the "winter 
blight," a blackening of the leaves, which is prevented by the Bor- 
deaux mixture applied as soon as its first signs appear. Then there 
is "blossom end rot," which seems to be controlled by culture and 
irrigation which gives the plant regular and adequate soil-moisture. 
"Leaf spot" shows itself in angular spots with pale centers and col- 
ored edges and is checked by Bordeaux mixture. "Summer blight" 
kills plants usually in the spring and the symptoms are curling and 
yellowing of the leaves and collapse of the whole plant quickly. No 
cause has been determined. Fortunately plants set after June for 
the main crop are less seriously affected than earlier in the season. 
No treatment seems to have any effect. 



PROTECTING YOUNG TOMATOES 273 

In the bay district plants are attacked in the field by a black 
beetle, which is prevented by wrapping the plants in six inch square 
pieces of newspaper and planting in this wrapper — which both roots 
and tops soon outgrow. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
TURNIPS. 

Turnip. — Brassica napus. 
French, navet; German, herbst-riibe; Dutch, raap; Danish, roe; Italian, 
navone; Spanish and Portuguese, nabo. 

Kohl-Rabi. — Brassica caulo-rapa. 
French, choux-raves; German, knollkohl; Flemish, raaphool; Italian, 
cavolo-rapa. 

Rutabaga. — Idem. 
French, chouxnavets; German, kohlrube; Dutch, koolraapen onder den 
grond ; Italian, cavolo navone. 

These members of the cabbage family are somewhat arbitrarily 
classed as turnips for convenience and in accordance with local 
popular usage. Kohl-rabi has swollen stem, clearly above ground ; 
rutabaga has a swollen root partly above ground, partly below ; the 
turnip proper is another species of brassica, which has a swollen 
root and a manner of growth like rutabaga. In California all these 
vegetables take a much lower rank in popularity and usefulness 
than the cabbage group of the same genus discussed in Chapter 
XVI. Judged as root crops they are inferior in use and esteem to 
the other esculent roots already considered. They have no local 
standing whatever for stock purposes, for two reasons at least : 
they do not endure well our summer heat and drought, but become 
a prey to fungus and unthrift; they will not rest and start again 
for larger root-expansion, as do the beet and carrot. Such being 
their weakness and perversity, the stock feeder abandons them, 
which he can readily afford to do in view of the fact that he has 
many other more serviceable crops. He can have any quantity of 
immense beets and carrots which are making their re-enlargement 
from the previous spring sowing, to feed in the winter ; he can have 
for late summer use, corn and squashes, which grow riotously in 
summer heat which distresses the turnip. He does well enough 
without the turnip, in view of its behavior and his own supplies 
from other sources. 

At one time, however, the turnip was coming widely into fa- 
vor in the dairy region of Humboldt because it developed more 
rapidly from spring sowing and would be ready for feeding in July 
and August, while beets and carrots came considerably later. But 
the creameries shut down on turnip-milk because of bad flavors. 
This ruling largely closed the career of the turnip although the 
cool, moist air of Humboldt county's summer is greatly to its liking. 

The vegetables, then, which we group in this chapter, must be 
estimated alone upon their table value, and here, too, they are af- 
flicted by an ill-indisposition. They are not good keepers in this 
[274] 



WAYS WITH TURNIPS 275 

climate, and, though they can be packed away in sand for use dur- 
ing our warm, rainy winter, the people have other supplies of 
fresher character in the winter, and do not find either turnips or 
parsnips as desirable as they are in wintry countries. 

Turnips and rutabagas are then reduced to claim popularity 
upon their excellence as quickly grown for immediate use when 
mature, and under this restriction they centainly enjoy a fair measure 
of popularity. Kohl-rabi is very little used and its narrow fame 
is chiefly confined to citizens of French and German descent. 

Culture. — The growth of all these plants is simple and can be 
undertaken anywhere in California, providing their dislike of sum- 
mer heat and dry air is borne in mind. The culture methods pre- 
scribed for the beet and carrot befit the turnip in the direction of 
preparation of soil, sowing the seed and cultivation. The plants 
are hardy against frost and can be successfully produced all through 
our valley winters. Sowing for winter use may begin early in the 
fall on irrigated ground or as soon as the rains fall. Sowing for 
spring and early summer can be done at any time during the winter 
when the soil is sufficiently dry and warm for germination and 
growth of the seedling. In valleys of heavy rainfall and frosts, 
February sowing may be best for spring use, but in warmer, drier 
parts earlier sowing is desirable. The plant needs adequate moist- 
ure and a moderate temperature, and its growth is a matter of con- 
ditions not of the calendar. It is plain, then, that turnips are well 
adapted to winter gardening in California, and, if pushed to ma- 
turity rapidly, they will be found very tender and delicious. Sow- 
ing for succession will give turnips fresh from the soil in all their 
excellence through many months in our warmer valleys. 

Both the flat turnips and the rutabagas or Swedish turnips are 
grown in the same way, and both reach edible size very quickly 
under favorable conditions. Culture is like that advised for the 
radish except that they need wider spacing. Rutabagas are better 
keepers and more serviceable for winter storage than flat turnips, 
though both are mainly used fresh from the ground in this state. 

Rutabagas are sometimes transplanted from the seed-bed, as 
space becomes available here and there in the garden for them. 
They are handled just as cabbage plants are. 

Kohl-rabi is grown in the same way as common cabbage, both 
in starting plants and planting out. 

Varieties. — The flat turnips chiefly grown are Early Snowball, 
Early White Dutch and Purple Top Milan — the latter being pre- 
ferred by market gardeners. The Purple Top Flat Dutch or Strap 
Leaf and Purple Top White Globe are also in good favor. 

Rutabagas are so little grown that there is doubt which has 
the preference of several good kinds listed by our seedsmen ; the 
Purple Top Yellow or Long Island seem, however, to be most 
popular. 

Of Kohl-rabi the White Vienna is usually grown. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
VEGETABLE SUNDRIES. 

It is not intended to make this volume a complete treatise upon 
the esculent plants which may be grown in California, nor to claim 
that it contains a complete enumeration of those which are actually 
grown at the present time. Such a task would be appalling in 
view of the wide adaptability of the climate and the fact that our 
population includes natives of every country under the sun who 
have brought hither the plants which have delighted them in their 
old homes. Conspicuous among such contributions to our culti- 
vated flora are the acquisitions from China and Japan, which alone 
would require much time to identify and characterize. Our acqui- 
sitions of minor vegetables from Europe are hardly less interesting. 
It must be left for some future student to properly arrange all these 
for public information. In the present work it has been rather the 
intention of the writer to treat the more conspicuous and widely 
useful vegetables, because in that line the present demand for in- 
formation lies. An attempt will, however, be made in this chapter 
to briefly mention a few plants concerning which inquiry may arise 
in the minds of readers, and to ofifer suggestions on their culture. 

Capers. — Capparis spinosa. 

The production of "capers" on a commercial scale has fre- 
quently been mooted in California, and so far as the local adoption 
of the plant goes, anticipations of success seem to be well placed. 
The plant thrives with moderate moisture — enough could be con- 
served by cultivation on any fairly retentive soil. It has been grow- 
ing thriftily for years on adobe soil in the University garden in 
Berkeley, and has produced prolifically the flower-buds which are 
used in pickling. The labor of frequently hand-picking the buds 
must, however, be considered in connection with any projected en- 
terprise. A few plants for the home garden can be strongly com- 
mended. They can be grown in corners or in borders and are 
decidedly handsome in leaf and blossom. Plants may be easily 
grown from seed in a seed-box or can be multiplied by stem cut- 
tings in a sand-box over mild bottom heat. 

Chayote. — Sechium edule. 

This squash-like vegetable was introduced to California by the 
late Kinton Stevens, of Santa Barbara, previous to 1890 and was 
first called "choco" and classed as a fruit.* It belongs, however, 
among the vegetables and in southern California has become of 

♦California Fruits; 2nd Edition, p. 480; 1891. 

[276] 



VARIOUS VEGETABLES 277 

commercial note. It resembles a squash and is cooked in many 
ways. It is a free-growing vine and very productive. One Cali- 
fornia grower reports a single vine bearing more than 350 fruits, 
averaging more than ten ounces weight. D. F. Reichard, of Los 
Angeles county, gives the California Cultivator these cultural points : 

Being a tropical vine it grows only in warm weather. In southern Cali- 
fornia it is planted in February. The fruit, which envelops only one seed, is 
planted whole with the large end down, leaving the small end out of the 
ground. The young plant sprouts from the large end. Plant where they are 
to grow in well drained soil. Keep them only damp enough to allow good 
growth until warm weather comes on, when they will require lots of water. 
If the early sprouts are frozen back do not be alarmed as new growth will 
soon appear. The first year runners 20 to 30 feet will be made and probably 
some fruit. The winter frost will freeze these runners back to the root, but 
in the spring new shoots will come out and will grow to from 30 to 60 feet, 
which, if well trellised, will produce hundreds of fruits. During September 
the white, insignificant blooms begin to appear ; in four or five weeks the 
small fruit are old enough for use. They are cooked and used the same as 
summer squash and eggplant. 

Chervil. — Scandix cerefolimn and Chcerophyllum bulbosum. 

There are two edible plants known as chervil, the first fur- 
nishes fragrant leaves which are used as seasoning and in salad, 
the second an edible root for boiling. The first is a hardy annual, 
and can be grown from seed, as lettuce is — sowing whenever moist- 
ure is adequate. It does not thrive in high heat but can be helped 
by shading when necessary. The turnip-rooted chervil resembles 
a carrot in form, and may be grown as carrots are. The seed soon 
loses its germinating power and must be fresh. 

Corn Salads. — Valerianella olitoria and eriocarpa. 

Corn salads are popular winter growing salad plants, and are 
of easy culture. The seed is sown whenever moisture is present in 
the fall, and a succession of foliage can be had all through the 
rainy season. The culture is the same as for lettuce. The plant 
also resembles lettuce ; we have some varieties of open growth and 
some which are disposed to form somewhat compact heads of 
foliage. In this state both the French and Italian improved kinds 
are hardy in California valley winters. 

Cress. — Lepidimn sativum, and Water Cress. — Nasturtium 

officinale. 

Garden cress is easily grown all the year in the coast region 
if the ground is kept moist. The seed should be sown at short 
intervals, as the leaves come on very quickly. In the interior it is 
chiefly a winter plant, as summer heat checks leaf growth and 
carries the plant to seed. Water cress has grown freely in Cali- 
fornia ponds and pools, and was found in such places by our earlier 
botanists. In California it makes very rank growth, producing 



278 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

stems five and six feet high and proportionate luxuriance of leaf 
growth. It usually volunteers freely wherever water stands, filling 
road-side ditches and similar places. All that is needed is to pre- 
pare a place suitable for its growth. By making new, zig-zag 
ditches, just a little off the level or contour line, so the water will 
run very slowly, one can grow any amount of cress that he can find 
use or sale for and pluck it continuously from the old roots, but it 
is not wise to have anything to do with it in a commercial way until 
one understands it fully. It is used for garnishing, for salads, for 
boiling as greens, etc. There is little chance of selHng cress except 
in cities, and there is small chance of profit far away from city 
consumers because the cress will wilt before one can deliver it. 

Dandelion. — Leontodon taraxacum. 

This plant has been widely introduced on the moister lands 
throughout the state, and is used for salad and for boiling, as it 
appears in abundance after the fall rains. The plant is also grown 
to a limited extent by foreign-born market gardeners, and some of 
the improved garden varieties have been introduced for their use. 
It can be grown as lettuce is, whenever the soil carries moisture 
enough. 

Gherkin. — Cucumis anguria. 

This plant is different from the small pickling cucumbers which 
are often called gherkins. It is a creeping, branching plant, making 
a dense mat of stems well laden with small, oval fruit covered with 
spine-like protuberances. It endures heat and drought well, and 
is very prolific even in interior situations in California. 

Ginger. — Zingiber sp. 

Ginger is the commercial product of the roots of several species 
of Zingiber — some of them strictly tropical, others rather more 
hardy — but two conditions are essential: Freedom from frost and 
assurance of continual soil moisture. The plant is propagated by 
planting pieces of its fleshy roots which roughly resemble those of 
the sweet flag. These are planted about three inches deep in a light 
soil mulched with well-rotted manure and kept moist continually 
by irrigation. Under such conditions the plant makes a large weight 
of fleshy roots. Ginger root has been planted in California many 
times during the last forty years or more and we hear now and 
then of the plant growing in a garden, but there is probably no 
chance of succeeding with it as we usually grow field crops, and 
no one should plant it except in an experimental way. 

Kitchen Herbs. 

It is hardly desirable to enumerate a list of culinary herbs. 
Each housewife has her own information and preference and be- 
yond that her cook-book is an encyclopedia. Suffice it to say that 



MUSHROOM GROWING 279 

nearly the whole collection of plants grown in northern climates 
for fragrant leaves or seeds is hardy in the California winter, and 
most of them do best with early sowing — as soon as the soil is well 
moistened by the fall rains. Most failures with them are traceable 
to sowing too late, which comes from following eastern practice. 
Where the winter is quite frosty, fall sowing is less desirable, but 
with February warmth the seed should be in the ground. Early 
sowing enables the plants to secure good rooting, and with that, 
growth can be carried later in the dry season. Late sowing causes 
many a plant to dwindle in the summer heat even if irrigation is 
afforded. It must also be remembered that many plants must be 
diligently cultivated during our dry season which thrive without it 
in the humid summer of other countries. 

Mushrooms. 

Field growth of mushrooms is abundant during the rainy sea- 
son in California — especially do the fall rains bring to view such 
great quantities of them that they can be easily gathered by bushels. 
The list of edible mushrooms in California includes many species 
which afford a fine field for mycological epicures. Recently there 
has arisen quite a producing interest in the line of cellar culture of 
mushrooms chiefly by foreigners, and their methods are essentially 
the same that are practiced elsewhere, descriptions of which are 
readily available. Good detailed publications can be had free on 
application to the Secretary of Agriculture at Washington which 
will give the inquirer a good outline of arrangement and methods. 

An outline of California practice, which Mr. Peter Arndt of 
Los Angeles found successful, is as follows : 

Mushrooms can be grown in the cellar for home use providing the cellar 
can be kept at an even temperature with plenty of light and air, but large 
and profitable crops in a specially built house or in an old out-building prop- 
erly fitted for their growth. 

Start with a bed 10x10 feet — which sounds like a very small beginning 
indeed, but this size bed should produce at least 200 pounds of mushrooms. 

Secure a two-horse load of horse manure. Wet it down thoroughly, and 
turn it over daily with a pitchfork. As soon as it dries out pretty well, wet 
it again, and repeat the turning over process. Do this for about ten days, 
and then transfer the compost or manure to the beds you have already 
prepared. 

Pack the manure thoroughly in the bed to a thickness of about seven 
inches, and let it stand. Place a thermometer in the bed, to a depth of about 
three inches; the temperature will rise to about 75 or 80 degrees. When the 
temperature reaches this point, cut your spawn into pieces about two inches 
square and set into the beds two inches below the surface and one foot apart. 
It should be right to set the spawn one week after packing the bed. 

One week after setting the spawn cover the bed to a depth of one-half 
inch with fine sifted garden soil ; after that sprinkle the bed lightly from time 
to time; just enough to keep it moist, but not wet. 

The mushrooms will start to appear in from six to seven weeks. If you 
can keep your bed at a temperature of about 60 degrees you will get fine 
results, but a temperature of from 45 to 75 degrees will do, and with proper 
sprinkling will produce just as good results as an even temperature of 60 
degrees. 



280 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Beds can be built one upon the other leaving about two feet of space 
between each bed. Never use a dark room or house for mushrooms, but be 
sure that the beds are protected from the direct rays of the sun. A httle 
artificial heat is a good thing in the winter as the temperature should never 
be allowed to go above 70 degrees or below 40 degrees. The house in which 
the beds are located should be on rather high ground — at least high enough 
to afford good drainage. 

Mustard. — Sinapis sp. 

Mustard is a grievous weed in California, especially on rich 
soils with moisture. It is also sometimes very profitable as grown 
for a seed crop. The young plant is sought in the fields as a salad 
and improved varieties are cultivated to some extent. Both the 
white and the large cabbage-leaved Chinese kind are grown. The 
culture is most easy and simple, the treatment being the same as 
that of lettuce. 

Nasturtium . — Tropceolum. 

Nasturtiums are largely grown as ornamental plants, but the 
desirability of the flowers for the garnishing of salads and the use 
of the flower buds and green seed for pickling and as a substitute 
for capers gives the plants space in the vegetable garden. They 
will thrive almost without care or watering in a corner of the gar- 
den, though better growth will show their appreciation of better 
treatment. They volunteer freely in California from self-sown 
seed and continue growth all through the frost-free season. They 
can be trained on fence or trellis or allowed free range as prostrate 
plants if space permits ; or dwarf varieties may be chosen, as they 
bloom and fruit freely with less extension. They require little more 
from the grower than the covering of the seed in soil moist enough 
for germination. 

Okra or Gumbo. — Hibiscus esculentiis. 

This popular vegetable of the South is not largely grown in 
California but can usually be had from market gardeners. It re- 
quires generous moisture supply to thrive and does not take at all 
kindly to dry heat. Plants may be started in the winter in the ways 
described for the tomato, and the planting out and treatment is like 
that of eggplants ; or seed may be sown for later crop in the open 
ground in drills, the plants being subsequently thinned to about a 
foot apart. The plants should be well cultivated and kept well sup- 
plied with water. The Long Green and the White Velvet are the 
varieties chiefly grown. 

Parsley. — Apium petroselinum. 

Parsley can be readily grown in California by the use of a 
raised bed for fall sowing for winter use and by sowing in the early 
spring for fiat culture for summer use. The culture is like that for 
lettuce except that the plants need wider spacing and extra care has 



ROSELLE AND SEA KALE 281 

to be taken to protect the seed from drying out, as it is long in ger- 
minating and cannot be deeply covered. Good firming of the 
ground after previous deep culture is desirable, and a light mulch 
will help to retain moisture and facilitate watering without crusting 
the ground. 

RosELLE. — Hibiscus subdariffa. 

This interesting plant, resembling in its growth okra or gumbo, 
is a native of tropical Asia and Africa, and has been widely distrib- 
uted through semi-tropical countries, where it has been found to 
possess considerable resistance to drought and to yield very accept- 
able food products. It was introduced by the pioneers probably 
from Mexico, and was distributed by the State University about 
1895, and has been offered by California seedsmen for many years 
past. The plant is very ornamental, the dark red stems and pods 
showing through the rather scant dark green foliage. The flowers 
are of a yellowish white with a dark red center, two inches across 
and lasting only an hour or so during fair weather. The juice ex- 
tracted from the fleshy calyces or husks is used with water to make 
an acidulous cooling drink, but is of most value in jelly-making. 
The mucilaginous properties of the juice render the "setting" of the 
jelly certain, with a reasonable amount of cooking. The dark cherry 
color of the jelly and the sprightly acid makes it nearly if not equal 
to currant jelly. Irrigated plants produce a more highly colored 
fruit, but come into bearing later. Unirrigated plants put their 
strength into fruit, but the irrigated plants start lateral branches, 
which ultimately produce several pods, while the unirrigated plants 
have but one pod. As the plant will endure quite heated and arid 
situations, it promises to be of much value for jelly-making where 
currants do not thrive. The plant should be given ordinary garden 
culture, sowing the seed when danger of frost is over. Enough of 
the pods should be allowed to ripen to yield seed for the follow- 
ing year. 

Sea Kale. — Crainbe maritima. 

This plant is but little grown in California, and then only by 
professional gardeners. It requires long use of the ground and con- 
siderable attention in provision for blanching. Plants may be grown 
from seed, if it is fresh, as tomato plants are grown, and planted 
out at about three feet apart each way. Plants can also be grown 
from root cuttings as described for horse-radish, placing them about 
three feet apart each way. Plants from root cuttings should be al- 
lowed free growth for at least one year, and seedlings twice as long. 
Preparation for use consists in covering the plant with an inverted 
pot or box as the shoots appear and allowing it to make its growth 
in the dark, thus producing blanched and tender midribs. In cut- 
ting, the knife should go below the root crown, as new shoots come 
readily from below. Old roots are productive for many years if. 



282 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

allowed to grow freely but not to form seed after the early growth 
is cut for use. 

Square-pod Pea. — Lotus tetragonolobus. 

This plant has recently acquired some little popularity in Cali- 
fornia as a table vegetable. It will make a good winter growth in 
some regions of the state, though a little spring heat is more pleas- 
ing to it. Its culture is like that of garden peas, and, if sown during 
the rainy season, will bear an abundance of edible pods for early 
spring use. The pods should be gathered when young and tender 
and are cooked like string beans. 

Chinese Yam. — Dioscoria batatas. 

This climbing plant grows thriftily in California and sends its 
fleshy roots, which are the edible part, so deep that it seems to 
contemplate return to its native country. To get the roots one has 
to dig a well several feet deep, because they are so brittle that they 
will stand no pulling whatever. With present prices of labor in this 
country it is not profitable to go into deep mining to get starchy 
food, and the plant is grown only as a curiosity. 

Udo. — Aralia cor data. 

This Japanese vegetable was introduced in 1906 from Japan 
by Mr. David Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer of the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, well known to Californians because of the 
many visits he has made to the state and the many interesting things 
he has brought to us from foreign parts. 

The edible parts of udo are the blanched shoots, which, when 
properly prepared, are said to be delicious. Mr. Fairchild gives a 
detailed account of the growth and uses of the plant in Bulletin 84 
of the Department of Agriculture on "Experiments with Udo, the 
New Japanese Vegetable," but states that he is not certain that 
udo will prove superior in any detail to vegetables which are already 
under cultivation in America. Growth of udo was undertaken for 
eastern shipment by M. E. Meek, near Antioch, Contra Costa 
county. Mr. Meek planted several acres, and Mr. Fairchild says 
it is the first commercial field of it in the United States. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

VEGETABLES FOR CANNING 
AND DRYING. 

The importance of vegetable canning in California is noted in 
the opening chapter of this work. At the present time large areas 
of vegetables are grown to fill contracts with canners, and their 
purchases in open market are a great relief in times of over-supply. 
It is reasonable to expect that this important canning interest will 
largely increase as larger distant markets can be commanded, and 
as the growth of population west of the Missouri river demands 
greater supplies. California has marked advantages in the produc- 
tion of canning vegetables at minimum cost and in the highest 
quality. 

As this treatise is prepared for the information of vegetable 
growers, it seems fitting that some space should be given to an ex- 
position of what constitutes excellence in a vegetable from a can- 
ner's point of view, although it is impossible to enter into the sub- 
ject as fully as its importance warrants.* 

Asparagus. — The trade demands large, white, tender spears, 
with the tip wholly unopened or headed out. To secure the shoots 
in this condition, they must be cut very closely, which is done by 
keeping the soil in fine, deep tilth, and cutting low, as nearly as 
practicable, before the point is exposed to the air. A few hours' 
growth in the sun not only causes the head to color, but it begins 
to open very rapidly. Other information has been given in the 
chapter on asparagus. 

String Beans. — This vegetable has not been canned to any con- 
siderable extent in California, inasmuch as the fresh vegetable is 
on the market such a large portion of the year, that there is less 
need of buying it in cans. The first canner who made a specialty 
of string beans was Mr. H. Wambold, of Blue Lakes, Lake county, 
who had a piece of land that seemed to be better adapted to the pro- 
duction of string beans than any other vegetable, and this land was 
used for the same crop for twenty consecutive years. The yield 
from the commencement being so large, the home market so limited, 
and being too remote from the railroad for shipping to the San 
Francisco market, he was forced, as a last resort, to pack the vege- 
table, and by strict attention to every detail he soon built such a- 
reputation for his canned beans that his yearly output is easily dis- 
posed of at a good profit. The points of quality in a string bean for 

*The fullest account of California's commercial canning industries, including build- 
mgs and machinery, methods, materials, etc., is "The Canning of Fruits and Vegetables " 
by J. B. Zavalla. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1916. 

[ 283 ] 



284 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

canning, are green color, tenderness, and it must be as nearly as 
possible stringless, or, at any rate, a variety that can be easily 
handled, leaving no strings on them, when ordinary care is used. 
Recently the business established by Mr. Wambold has been greatly 
expanded and others have engaged largely in it, including a consider- 
able corporation organized to operate in Lake county. 

Peas. — The desirable points in this vegetable from a canner's 
point of view are that they shall be small, green, sweet, and tender. 
There are a great many varieties which have been handled success- 
fully in this state, as stated in the chapter on the Pea, such as Pre- 
mium Gem, Alaska. This vegetable is so dependent on atmospheric 
moisture that a crop cannot be counted upon every year in the in- 
terior ; for lack of rains at the time when the plant needed moisture, 
and apparently irrigation does not solve the difficulty, as the pea 
seems to need a somewhat moist atmosphere. There has been re- 
cently in operation a large pea growing interest in eastern Stanis- 
laus county, operating successfully. 

Tomatoes. — That fruit must be of red color, firm, few seeds, 
and smooth skin, that is, not wrinkled. A medium size answers 
the purpose better than the extremely large varieties. The tomato 
is canned largely as indicated in Chapter I, and the culture of the 
plant is fully discussed in Chapter XXXIII. 

Corn. — California makes no record in canning corn. The 
special corn canneries of the eastern states have manufacturing ad- 
vantages on their side and the eastern corn grower has also ad- 
vantages. California has a longer green-corn season, as shown in 
the chapter on that subject, but that counts more for the table than 
the cannery. 

A VARIED PRODUCT. 

The statistics given near the end of Chapter I show which vege- 
tables are greatest in California canning but they do not indicate 
the great diversity in the varieties used. The following are included 
in canners' operations : 



Asparagus 


Celery 


Peppers (Chili) 


Beans (Lima) 


Corn 


Pimientoes 


Beans (Baked) 


Onions 


Pumpkin and Squasli 


Beans (String) 


Parsnips 


Sauerkraut 


Beets 


Peas 


Spinach 


Cabbage 


Potatoes 


Tomatoes 


Carrots 


Potatoes (Sweet) 


Turnips 



DRYING VEGETABLES. 

Very fine samples of dried vegetables have been shown from 
time to time in California, and the output of a considerable product 
in this line is clearly feasible if it could command a welcome in the 
markets. This fact has not yet been demonstrated. The rush to 
Alaskan gold fields in the summer of 1897 created a demand for 
considerable quantities of dried vegetables, chiefly potatoes, and the 



DRYING VEGETABLES 285 

drying establishment of Penniman Brothers, of San Jose, which 
was opened for vegetable drying in 1889 and subsequently turned 
to other uses for lack of demand, was turned again to vegetables to 
supply sharp orders for Alaskan shipment. Onions, potatoes, string 
beans and carrots were dried and several slicing machines were 
used. A drying establishment at Azusa, Los Angeles county, was 
also operated for vegetables during part of the season, and others 
probably participated. Interest in commercial vegetable drying re- 
vived during the European war and a large establishment was 
equipped near Stockton for drying and flouring potatoes. If de- 
mand and prices should favor it California could produce large 
quantities of dried vegetables as well as dried fruits. Experience 
thus far seems to favor machine evaporation rather than sun dry- 
ing, but it is quite probable that sun heat may be found available, 
at least for part of the work, when further attention is given to the 
matter. The commercial development of vegetable drying is, how- 
ever, very slow as compared with the production of fresh and 
canned vegetables for distant shipment. 

For home use the drying of many kinds of vegetables is very 
desirable. During 1917 under the nation-wide movement for food 
conservation there was much effort expended to preparing detailed 
advice and instruction concerning vegetable drying and many pub- 
lications resulted, describing many improvements in methods. Such 
publications can be had free of cost from the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture at Washington, D. C, and from the University of Cal- 
ifornia Experiment Station at Berkeley, to which the reader is 
referred. These sources furnish all information needed for the 
beginner, who will find out, however, that he has much to learn 
also from his own experience. 

For the convenience of the reader the following outlines of 
methods of both canning and drying vegetables with ordinary home 
appliances are compiled from publications of the University of Cal- 
ifornia by Professor W. V. Cruess : 

PRACTICAL DETAILS OF CANNING VEGETABLES. 

1. Make a false bottom to fit inside an ordinary stove wash- 
boiler. This bottom may be a piece of heavy wire netting or a 
wooden grating. 

2. Prepare the vegetables as for cooking and in convenient 
form for placing in the cans. Root vegetables should be brushed 
clean, peeled and cut into convenient slices or pieces. Green beans 
should have their strings removed and then be cut into short lengths. 
Peas should be shelled. Corn should be cut off the cob. Peppers 
should be scalded and the skin removed. Squash should be peeled, 
the seeds removed, and the flesh cut up into small pieces. Aspara- 
gus should be blanched or parboiled by dipping into boiling water 
for about three minutes immediately before canning. Artichokes 



286 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

should have some of the outside bracts removed and the hardtip 
cut off with a sharp knife. 

3. The prepared vegetables are packed tight into the jars or 
cans which are then completely filled with brine containing three 
ounces of salt to a gallon of water. Before using, this brine should 
be acidified with lemon juice or vinegar. For corn ten fluid ounces 
(about one and one-half teacups) of lemon juice should be used to 
a gallon of brine, for beans and peas seven fluid ounces (about one 
teacup), and for other vegetables five fluid ounces (about three- 
fourths of a teacup). If ordinary vinegar is used about twice these 
quantities are necessary. The acidified brine should be poured hot 
on to the vegetables. 

4. The filled cans and jars are then placed, with their covers in 
place but loose, on the false bottom of the boiler. Hot water is then 
poured into the boiler until it reaches to about three-fourths of the 
height of the jars. A second tier may be placed on a rack resting 
on the first tier, to be cooked in the steam. 

5. The boiler is then covered and heated to boiling, for one 
hour for most vegetables. Pumpkins, beans and corn require two 
hours. 

6. After this heating remove and seal quickly, while still boil- 
ing hot, by screwing down the tops of the jars or applying the wax 
to the cans. 

This is a thoroughly safe and satisfactory way of preserving 
vegetables. With some vegetables the acid may be omitted, but in 
this case two or three repeated heatings are necessary and this low- 
ers the quality of the food to some extent. Reheating is not prac- 
ticable with wax-top cans. 

The foregoing is called the "cold-pack" method because the 
material is put in the cans before cooking. In the "hot-pack" 
method the prepared material is first cooked with the necessary 
water or brine in an open kettle and poured hot in the cans and 
sealed immediately. In most cases this is sufficient for preservation, 
but an additional heating after sealing is often necessary. 

With the cold-pack method the canned material retains its form 
better, but more liquid is needed. The hot-pack method is more 
economical of heat and more solid material can be packed in the can. 

TOMATO PASTE. 

Canned tomatoes contain about 95 per cent water. If evap- 
orated to about one-eighth or one-tenth of the original volume the 
concentrated product will contain all the food value, flavor and 
color of the fresh tomatoes. 

The following method of manufacture is applicable to house- 
hold conditions : Boil the tomatoes until soft. Crush thoroughly 
and pass through a fine sieve or screen to take out the skins and 
woody portions of the pulp. Place the pulp and juice which pass 



PRESERVATION WITH SALT 287 

the screen in a shallow pan and boil down gently over a slow fire to 
a thick consistency. As the water evaporates the pulp will thicken 
and become Hable to scorching. Before this occurs, place the pan 
at the back of the stove where the heat is not sufficient to cause the 
paste to stick to the bottom of the pan. Allow the pulp to evaporate 
under these conditions very slowly until it has become very thick 
and pasty. While still hot add about 2 ozs. of salt to a gallon of 
the paste and pack into hot scalded jars. The filled jars should be 
sterilized in a washboiler sterilizer for half an hour to an hour, as 
desired for canning. The jars should then be sealed. 

The tomato paste can be used in cooking just as fresh tomatoes 
are, as a flavoring for various dishes, or diluted and used as soup 
stock, etc, 

A flavored tomato paste is made by Mrs. Jessica Hazzard, of 
Los Angeles : To one gallon of tomato juice and pulp prepared as 
above, add two sliced onions, two buttons of garlic, one bay leaf, 
and two or three Chili peppers. Boil down over a slow fire until it 
thickens and then concentrate over a steam bath or on the back of 
the stove to a thick paste. Beat in olive oil and salt to taste. Store 
in jars or cans. It will keep fairly well without sterilizing, but may 
become moldy on top. If sterilized it will keep perfectly. 

This method of preserving tomatoes will save nearly nine- 
tenths of the jars usually used for tomatoes. It is simple and ef- 
fective. The main danger to be avoided is that of scorching the 
product during evaporation. 

PRESERVATION BY SALT AND SOURING. 

Vegetables can be preserved more cheaply than in cans or jars 
and more simply, for household use, than by drying, by making use 
of the preservative quaUties of salt and of lactic acid. 

1. Preservation in Brine. — The vegetables are washed and 
sliced. They are then placed in a crock or barrel or other wooden 
vessel containing a strong brine. Metal vessels cannot be used. The 
brine is made with 2^ to 3 pounds of salt to one gallon of water. 
The vegetables must be kept submerged by means of a well-fitting 
wooden cover weighted with a stone or similar object that will not 
be acted on by the brine. 

2. Preservation in Salt. — Prepare the vegetables as above. 
Weigh and take one pound of salt for each two pounds of prepared 
vegetables. A layer of salt is first placed on the bottom of a crock 
or barrel and then a layer of vegetables. Similar layers are alter- 
nated until the vessel is full, finishing with a good layer of salt. A 
wooden cover is then applied and weighted. After a few days 
there will be a considerable shrinkage in volume and the vessel can 
then be filled with more layers and weighted as before. 

These methods are suitable for most root vegetables, string 
beans, cabbage and cucumbers. 



288 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

3. Preservation by Fermentation. — Cabbage, string beans, 
beets, and cucumbers can be preserved by covering with a weak 
brine and allowing them to undergo fermentation out of contact 
with the air. 

The prepared vegetables are mixed with salt at the rate of one- 
quarter to one-half of a pound of salt to ten pounds of vegetables 
and tightly packed in a deep crock or barrel and weighted down. 
The salt and pressure force out the juice of the vegetables and they 
decrease in volume one-third to one-half. After a day or two more 
vegetables and salt may be added and the weight replaced. 

If kept in a warm room (65 to 70 degrees F.) a gaseous fer- 
mentation commences and continues for several weeks. This pro- 
duces lactic acid, which preserves the vegetables. When the fer- 
mentation is over and the vegetables taste a little sour the liquid is 
drawn ofif and replaced with a brine containing one-half of a pound 
of salt to one gallon of water. In this they will keep in good con- 
dition for a long time if well protected from the air. 

The large quantities of salt used in these methods must be re- 
moved by soaking in fresh water ("freshening") before cooking. 

DRYING ROOT VEGETABLES. 

The method described below is suitable for turnips, carrots, 
beets, potatoes and other similar root vegetables. 

1. Peel or scrape the roots and cut into slices ^ to ^ of an 
inch thick. 

2. Spread in a single layer on wooden trays. Those used for 
fruit or raisin drying are good. Suitable light trays can be made 
from pine shakes or even from old boxes. They should be about 
2 ft. X 3 ft. with a 2-in. cleat on each end and a 3^ -in. strip on each 
side. 

3. Expose the sliced vegetables on the trays to the fumes of 
burning sulfur. An ordinary "sulfur box" used in drying fruits 
can be used. 

A simple sulfur box can be made of a large dry goods box or of 
a wooden frame covered with ordinary tar paper to make it fairly 
air-tight. It should be large enough to hold six to twelve stacked 
trays. It should be open at the bottom and if large have a door at 
one side for the insertion of the trays. If small it may be simply 
put over the stacks of trays. It is placed on the ground with the 
open side down over a hole at one end of which the sulfur is burned. 
It should be long enough so that the trays do not come directly over 
the sulfur hole at the end. 

As soon as the box is filled with trays of the sliced vegetables, 
the sulfur, in a shallow iron or earthenware pan, is placed in the 
hole and ignited. The door of the box is then closed. In from ten 
to twenty minutes the sulfuring is complete. A handful of sulfur 
is sufficient for a large box. 




o 
U 

o 
O 

in 

m 

> 

u 

o 



fc 



DRYING VEGETABLES 289 

Vegetables can be dried without sulfuring, but the color, flavor 
and keeping qualities are less perfect and the drying slower. Pota- 
toes are particularly improved by sulfuring. 

4. Place the trays in the sun until the vegetables are dry. This 
will require two to five days in good weather. 

Drying Potatoes. — Select sound, well matured potatoes. 

Method A : Peel and cut into pieces about one-fourth to three- 
eighths of an inch thick. Spread on trays and expose to the fumes 
of burning sulfur for twenty minutes. Place the trays in the sun 
until the potatoes are dry. If uncooked potatoes are dried without 
previous sulfuring the product will be dark in color. 

Method B : Boil or steam the potatoes until they are nearly 
cooked. Peel and cut in slices or run through a meat chopper and 
dry on trays in the sun. 

To use potatoes dried without cooking soak six to eight hours, 
or overnight, using eight pints of water to each pound of potatoes. 
Cook them in the usual way. If the potatoes were boiled before 
drying, they may be cooked in water or milk without previous 
soaking. 

Sweet Potatoes. — Use sound mature potatoes. 

Method A: Wash and boil until nearly cooked. Peel and cut 
in slices or run through a meat chopper. Spread on trays and dry 
in the sun. 

Method B : Wash, peel, slice, spread on trays and dry. The 
color will be lighter if the sliced potatoes are dipped in salt water 
before drying. 

DRYING TOP VEGETABLES. 

Tomatoes, peas, corn, squash and cabbage may be successfully 
sun-dried on trays in California. They may be kept indefinitely in 
the dry state and when properly cooked they are wholesome, nutri- 
tious, and can be made very palatable. 

Peas. — Select peas at the best stage for cooking fresh. If too 
ripe they will taste like ordinary split peas when dried, and if un- 
ripe they will dry down too much. Shell and spread on trays. If 
wooden trays are not available, paper, canvas or cloth may be used. 
Expose to the sun until dry. Unless thoroughly dry they will mold 
when stored. At the proper stage of ripeness it requires about 10 
pounds of unshelled or 3j^ pounds of shelled peas to make a pound 
of dry peas. 

Corn. — The corn should not be too ripe. It should be tender 
and sweet. Remove the husks, place the corn on the cob in a wire 
basket or sheet of cheesecloth and immerse in boiling water for 
about three to five minutes. Chill immediately in cold water and 
cut the corn from the cob. Spread on trays in the sun and dry. 

Tomatoes. — Bright sunlight and dry weather are essential for 
sun-drying tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in two flat-wise or large 



290 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

fruit may be cut into thick slices. Spread on trays and dry in the 
sun. It may be necessary to turn several times to prevent molding. 
Dry until tough and leathery in texture. They are then packed 
tight in barrels or boxes. A little salt should be sprinkled between 
the layers. 

Pumpkin and Squash. — Cut into strips and peel. Cut the strips 
into slices about one-fourth of an inch thick. Spread on trays 
and dry. 

Cabbage. — Select well developed heads. Remove the outer 
leaves and cut into strips about one-fourth or one-half of an inch 
thick. Spread loosely on trays and dry in the sun. About eighteen 
pounds of fresh is required to give one pound of dry cabbage. 

Peppers. — Commercial drying of peppers is outlined on page 
237. Stringing in the sun is still a good method for home use. 

STORING AND COOKING DRIED VEGETABLES. 

Dried vegetables may be kept in glass or stone jars, closed bins 
or heavy sacks or otherwise protected from insects. With small 
quantities it is a good plan to wrap in bundles with strong paper 
and store the bundles in cloth sacks. To guard against insects 
hatching from eggs deposited during the drying, the vegetables 
should be placed in shallow pans and put in a moderately hot oven 
for a few minutes before storing. The same treatment can be used 
later with vegetables found to be infested after putting away. An- 
other way to destroy insect life is to put the material in a tight 
covered box and allowing bi-sulfid of carbon to evaporate from a 
saucer placed on top just below the box cover. Half a cupful is 
enough for a 2 ft. X 4 ft. X 3 ft. This vapor is explosive and should 
be used in the open air and away from lights. Its offensive smell 
will soon dissipate by exposure to the air after treatment and no 
injury be done to flavors. 

Cooking Dried Vegetables. — As a rule dried vegetables must 
be soaked in cold water for 24 hours before being cooked. A pinch 
of carbonate of soda added to the water makes them more tender. 
They can be used as fresh vegetables, but are particularly suitable 
for soups and stews. 

Special suggestions are as follows : Corn should be soaked 
two to four hours, using two cups of water to one cup of corn. 
Peas should be soaked about twenty-four hours before cooking. 
Dried tomatoes will require at least twenty-four hours soaking or 
longer to soften and remove the excess of salt. To cook dried 
pumpkin or squash, soak over night in ten pints of water to one 
pound of dried material. They can then be used for pies, etc., in 
the same way as the fresh vegetables. To cook dried cabbage, add 
seven cupfuls of water to one heaping cupful. Bring slozvly to a 
boil in an open kettle. Boil thirty minutes. Add salt to taste.' This 
may be used for creaming, etc. 



COOKING DRIED VEGETABLES 291 

After soaking, dried vegetables are seasoned and cooked in 
ordinary ways. The drying process results in some loss of flavor 
and the dried products, therefore, require more seasoning than 
fresh vegetables. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 
SEED GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 

The commercial production of garden seeds in California was 
entered upon by the first American vegetable growers as a branch 
of their business. The difficulty of obtaining supplies from the East 
and the almost fabulous prices which seeds commanded, acted as a 
strong incentive to local production. The inventory of Mr. John M. 
Horner's productions at Alvarado in 1851 included eleven hundred 
pounds of garden seeds — onions, beets and cabbage. Mr. A. P. 
Smith at Sacramento had twenty acres devoted to seed growing in 
1857, and the following record shows that he had been doing a good 
business for some time before that date : 

To his vegetable seed department Mr. Smith turned his attention at an 
early day, and has pursued it till now he devotes to it twenty acres of ground 
and the time of several laborers, and from it reaps a merited reward. His 
crop of seeds for the last four years has reached from three to four thousand 
pounds per annum, which up to 1858 averaged about three dollars per pound. 
They now sell for less.^ 

Another pioneer seed grower was Mr. D. L. Perkins, of Ala- 
meda, The record states that he "served a thorough apprenticeship 
in the business at the East and is quite at home in all general ope- 
rations connected with his business." At the state fair in 1860 
premiums for garden seeds were awarded to A. P. Smith, of Sacra- 
mento, and to D. L. Perkins, of Alameda. The committee reported 
both exhibits very meritorious and indulged in the prophecy that 
"the time is at hand when our gardeners will be saved the time, 
trouble and expense of looking abroad for their seeds." 

It would seem that Mr. Perkins must be credited with a broader 
conception of the opportunity of California in seed growing than 
was known to the awarding committee. With them the problem 
was local supply. Mr. Perkins looked beyond that. In his state- 
ment submitted with a claim for a gold medal at the state fair of 
1867 he uses these significant words : 

For the past ten years all my time has been given to the raising of seeds 
. . . striving to get the best seeds from all parts of the world. During 
the past three years I have sent collections of seeds to be tested at the East 
and the results in size and quality over the same varieties grown at the East 
have been so marked that several parties have ordered from me, thus show- 
ing that California can compete with the world for garden seeds. There is 
no State in the Union so well adapted to the raising of seeds as California. 
During five years past I have sent samples of my product to Japan, China, 
Sandwich Islands, Mexico, and to Europe. 2 

' Rep. Cal. Agr. Society, 1858, p. 233. 

= Condensed from Rep. Cal. Agr. Society, 1866-7, pp. 228 and 229. 

[ 292 ] 



HISTORY OF SEED GROWING 293 

Probably this statement of Mr. Perkins was the first formal 
prophecy of the eminence which CaHfornia would ere long com- 
mand in the seed markets of the world. It found an echo in the 
words of Peter Henderson, the veteran seedsman and florist, who 
wrote in 1882: "California will, I am certain, fifty years from now, 
grow seeds for the world. It has all the conditions of soil and cli- 
mate for seed growing." The progress attained during the last few 
years justifies Mr. Perkins' enthusiastic declaration and indicates 
that Mr. Henderson's time limit was certainly conservative and safe, 
for in certain lines surely such a position has already been realized 
and was reached in less than a third of his period. 

A Neiv Start. — Mr. Perkins did not continue to the demonstra- 
tion of his problem. His intention was diverted to other matters, 
and it remained for others to actually work the mine of which he 
was only the prospector. Theirs have been the labors and the bur- 
dens, and it is gratifying to add that, through carrying them intelli- 
gently and devotedly, they have attained reward and have, in part 
at least, realized for the state the prominence which was prophe- 
sied by the pioneers. 

In 1875 Mr. R. W. Wilson, previously a seed grower at Ro- 
chester, New York, began seed growing near Santa Clara, and is 
regarded as the pioneer of the present era of California seed grow- 
ing. He began on about fifty acres of land, growing principally 
onion, lettuce, carrot, and beet seed. Two years later he was suc- 
ceeded by Kellogg & Morse, who continued together, increasing the 
dimensions of their business until 1889, when Mr. Kellogg retired 
and C. C. Morse & Co. became the successors to the business. They 
have extended and developed their enterprise to dimensions which 
few Californians realize, and are not only leaders in seed growing, 
but in the seed trade as well. Aside from this large firm there are 
other producers who have achieved most creditable results in the 
development of specialties which have given them wide reputations 
and contributed to the fame of the state in advanced horticulture. 

It will be impossible to adequately describe California seed 
growing in a single chapter. Only a few salient facts can be 
mentioned. 

Onion Seed. — This seed has held the leading place in Califor- 
nia seed growing from the very beginning — at first for local use, 
afterward for distant sale. In spite of the eastern plaudits which 
Mr. Perkins won for his seed, as already stated, it was a difficult 
undertaking to induce eastern dealers to use it largely at first. When 
Mr. Wilson offered his first crop of onion seed in the East, scarcely 
anyone would touch it and some who did, claimed afterward that 
the bulbs grown from it were soft, would not keep and were inferior. 
The next year Mr. Wilson sent quite a quantity of the seed to a 
dozen or more of the leading dealers who planted it beside eastern 
seed. In the fall Mr. Wilson went East and personally inspected 
the crops, compared the bulbs and was able to show that in every 



294 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

instance California seed produced as good onions as that they had 
been using before. From that time on CaHfornia onion seed has 
constantly grown in favor, and this state has become almost the 
only source of supplies, though there are places in Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania where a considerable amount is still grown. This 
popularity secured a price which was quite profitable, and many 
grew onion seed — too many in fact, for there was in some years a 
disastrous overproduction. Since then, however, better selection 
and culture have enabled favoring natural conditions to produce dis- 
tinctive results. In 1915 Mr. Lester A. Morse wrote as follows: 

Onion seed as produced in California has met and overcome a very- 
decided and persistent prejudice. As a rule the onion reproduces itself better 
in its immediate environment and Eastern grown or foreign grown onion 
seed is very likely to run largely, if not entirely, to scallions or stifif-necks 
when used here. The same result is likely with the onion seed taken from 
any one climate to another, but California seed will make a well ripened, 
merchantable bulb in any locality where onions are grown. It is remarkable 
to be able to pick out a plot of onions grown from California seed in Eng- 
land, or France, or Germany, and find them invariably all uniformly ripe and 
well'matured, free from stiff-necks, and all varieties usually ripen earlier than 
the same variety from other sources. 

Lettuce. — Lettuce seed is a leading crop with California seed 
growers. The climate of some parts of the coast valleys is admir- 
ably adapted to it. It requires careful, painstaking work to main- 
tain choice varieties. Unfortunately, the plant seeds most freely 
in a semi-wild condition and some of the less critical growers have 
allowed it to grow in this way, thereby increasing yield and profit. 
The careful grower proceeds with cultivation fitted to retain the 
characters of the variety, thins out the plants so that each will form 
a perfect head and be true to the type, and then the heading or cab- 
bage varieties must have the head cut open with a knife to allow 
the seed stem to come through ; otherwise the plant will rot without 
running to seed. This method of growing is not conducive to a 
large seed product, but it improves the strain, while the work of the 
careless grower tends to reversion. 

California lettuce seed is now recognized to be superior. We 
have the best possible climate for developing, curing, threshing, and 
cleaning seed. Lettuce requires a semi-arid climate for ripening, 
and here it receives full share of dry summer weather, so that the 
sample of seed is immeasurably superior to foreign grown. It is 
quite impossible to grow lettuce seed in countries where summer 
rains are frequent. 

Other Plants. — But for other seeds than onion and lettuce Cali- 
fornia seed farms are also famous all over the world and practically 
all seed dealers know us, but what are commonly known as Cali- 
fornia vegetable seeds are carrot, celery, endive, leek, lettuce, onion, 
parsley, parsnip, radish, salsify, and tomato. All of these items are 
produced on a large scale, and the California crops practically set 
the growers' prices for the world. All are grow^n in great variety 
and all are sold to dealers everywhere. 



GROWING FLOWER SEEDS 295 

Peas, beans, except Limas, and vine seeds have not reached large 
production because of competition with growers in the middle- 
western states. Eggplant, in spite of the excellence of the vegetable 
as noted in an earlier chapter, has disappointed the seed growers, 
and okra has done likewise. Turnip and Brussels sprouts have not 
prospered as seed crops, while cabbage does excellently. Cauli- 
flower also seeds well some years, but in others it completely fails, 
which renders its average below the profit line. Lima beans for 
seed have failed, except in the southern coast district described in 
the chapter on beans, but in that district growers have enjoyed some 
very profitable contracts with eastern dealers. 

Until about 1910 California grown corn was not supposed to 
produce good seed, and most of the seed used was imported from 
the Middle West. It was found that the reason for failure was 
simply lack of knowledge. When the same intelligence was ap- 
plied in selection, cultivation, and choice of location as is applied 
to other kinds of seeds, it was found that our California grown 
corn seed does better on the Pacific Coast than eastern grown, and 
the future of corn growing for seed is bound to show a greatly ex- 
panding acreage. 

Flozver Seeds. — Various flowers have been grown for seed, in 
fact, a great assortment of varieties, and, while nearly all kinds 
flourish, there is so much hand work and close application neces- 
sary, that we have not been able to successfully compete with 
Europe on most things. Sweet peas, nasturtiums, cosmos, verbenas, 
petunias, and asters are quite successfully grown, and the seed trade 
now looks to California for most of the sweet peas and a great 
many of the nasturtiums. Southern California has several very 
prominent growers of fine double petunias and other plants. Of 
standard varieties of candytuft, cosmos, stocks, asters, poppy, etc., 
there were three growers in southern California in 1915 who 
cropped fully five hundred acres. 

The rapid advance of the California sweet pea seed in popu- 
larity is most marvelous. A beginning was made in this line in a 
moderate way about 1885, when there were not over a dozen varie- 
ties listed. At first about a quarter of an acre was grown, but since 
1912 the total acreage has been about 2500 acres annually. So im- 
portant a factor have the California sweet pea growers become to 
the seed trade that some dealers come from the East annually to 
inspect the growing crops and to hunt for novelties in the sweet 
pea line. One will know California sweet pea wherever grown by 
its wonderful vigor and the flowers are now grown from California 
seed in all parts of the world. 

Sweet peas are planted in November and December to secure 
the flowers at their very best about the middle of May. They grow 
slowly throughout the winter, but just as soon as the days lengthen 
and the weather grows warm, they fairly spring into bloom, while 
later sown seed will mature blossoms correspondingly late. 



296 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

The careful grower devotes a great deal of time to rogueing 
his crops. In spite of the greatest care in selection there will al- 
ways be a few off plants, and these must come out to keep the 
stock pure. 

One Use of Machinery. — Improved cleaning machinery has 
proved an important factor in the production of a bright, fresh- 
looking sample of seed, and has improved the vitality test by allow- 
ing a thorough separation of everything spurious from the good 
seed. Hand mills are employed to some extent for small lots, but 
the main cleaning is done with large Clipper Mills, operated by 
gasoline engines, and sometimes the electric motor is used. This 
gives a steadier power and a much larger capacity. It was not un- 
til a few years ago that onion seed could be successfully threshed 
and separated by one and the same mill. After years of experi- 
menting and great expense, one was built that could successfully 
do this, and now onion seed is threshed and cleaned by large mills 
run with steam engines. It is, however, still necessary to sink the 
seed in water to get it perfectly clean. 

Hand Labor. — Nothing has been invented for threshing lettuce, 
cabbage, parsnip, parsley, etc., which is any improvement on the old 
hand flail, and gangs of men are employed in threshing these crops. 
The diversity of the crops and the innumerable variety would make 
it naturally unprofitable to attempt to employ machinery in the field 
for these kinds of seed. 

The seed grower must depend upon a great deal of hand work. 
Everything must be harvested by hand ; every onion head must be 
cut by hand ; every stalk of lettuce and carrot must be dried, turned, 
threshed, cleaned and recleaned. Carrot seed must not only be 
flailed to thresh it, but it must also be run through a rubbing ma- 
chine to break the beards ofif and then cleaned in-doors. 

All the planting and cultivating must be done very carefully, 
and much of it is hand work. Every onion bulb must be set right 
side up in the row — then carefully covered. Celery plants are twice 
transplanted before being finally set out in the field. Carrots and 
all roots must be selected and taken out to be transplanted — all 
which are defective in shape and color being thrown out. 

The careful seed grower always makes careful selections of 
everything he has growing, which he plants separately for his own 
stock seed. There will always be some roots or plants that are 
rather better in being nearer the true type and color than the others, 
and it is from among these that the careful grower makes his 
selections. 

Climatic Advantages. — In addition to the advantages of the 
California climate in growing the plants, there are other advantages 
in handling the crop. The long, dry summers afiford a fine oppor- 
tunity to thoroughly dry the seed and permit a large part of the 
harvest work to be done in the field. It is not necessary to build 
great barns and drying sheds as they do in the East, although the 



OUTLOOK OF SEED GROWING 297 

large California growers provide themselves with large cleaning 
houses and storage warehouses into which to take the seed as soon 
as it is sacked and ready for shipment. 

The Future. — It has taken all these years to learn how to grow 
seeds and to have trained a number of men who also know how, 
and what to do, so that in the future even greater and more inter- 
esting developments may be expected in all branches of seed grow- 
ing. One hardly knows what the possibilities are, but the past has 
clearly shown that our soil and climate will be great aids to future 
accomplishment, and in our wide range of natural conditions, it is 
reasonable to expect that many things not now undertaken, may 
find a favorable environment, and reward the intelligent and pains- 
taking grower. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
GARDEN PROTECTION. 

There are three main Hnes of protection to which the vegetable 
grower may find himself compelled to give attention, and he may 
sometimes be so beset by ills that he will cry in despair that all 
forces of earth, air and sky are arrayed against his enterprise. For- 
tunately, however, there is nothing in the situation, usually, to appall 
one who is energetic and prompt and eager for success, and an efifort 
will be made to suggest expedients and methods which will assist 
in repelling various destroying agencies. The three classes of in- 
truders to which attention will be called are these: unfavor- 
able atmospheric conditions; injurious insects and fungi; injurious 
animals. 

PROTECTION AGAINST WINDS AND FROST. 

Protection against harsh winds has already been incidentally 
mentioned from time to time. There are very few places where a 
good windbreak will not be of decided advantage, and if the gar- 
den ground cannot be selected so as to enjoy the protection of 
trees and buildings already in place, special planting or construc- 
tion should be undertaken. A good shelter belt of trees, preferably 
of evergreen foliage so placed as to break the cold winds from the 
direction prevailing in the locality, will be found of immense ad- 
vantage. Where such protection is not practicable, a high fence, 
even if not closely boarded, will afford some protection to a much 
greater width of ground than one might think at first. Fence-like 
screens made by interweaving bamboo canes or tall reeds (arundo 
donax) with fence wire, serve well as low windbreaks for small 
planted areas. These screens can be made in the way described for 
fencing on page 86 but two or three times as high. 

Protection against frost, effective against a drop of several de- 
grees below freezing point, is secured by the use of a smoke smudge. 
Most effective fires are those which yield volumes of steam as well 
as smoke, so that masses of wet straw or rubbish placed over dry 
stuff enough to maintain combustion, are the best material. Run- 
ning or standing water close to the plants or water sprinkled on 
them will also prevent frost effect, providing the temperature does 
not sink very far below the freezing point nor remain there too long. 
Under such conditions, covers of paper or burlap, also serve a good 
purpose. The largest use of frost covers is that made by the canta- 
loup growers of the Imperial Valley, as stated on page 210. They 
take pieces about a foot square of oiled or paraffined paper and 

[ 298 ] 



REMEDIES FOR INSECTS 299 

crown it over a seed-hill with lumps of dirt on the corners to hold 
the paper in place. As the young plants appear the covers are re- 
adjusted to them at the time of hoeing. Sometimes the square of 
paper is humped up toward -one side and the folded edges pinned 
together by a piece of wire long enough to hold the paper-laps 
together and go into the ground a few inches to hold the cover in 
place. This makes an opening at tiie south side which gets larger 
as the plants rise. The earliest plantings bring ripe melons a month 
earlier, through the protection which the covers afiford. It is a 
unique sight to see a large acreage covered in this way. It is, of 
course, only efficient where frosts are infrequent and light. 

The whole question of cheapest and most efifective frost pro- 
tection in California is still open, and careful experimentation is 
proceeding. All growers should read regularly some California 
horticultural journal in which the latest discoveries and practices 
are described. 

INJURIOUS INSECTS. 

It should be borne in mind that the attacks of these evils are 
in many cases conditioned upon weakness and unthrift to the plant, 
and the danger from both insects and blights is reduced by keeping 
the plants in most active and vigorous growth. Lack of cultivation, 
lack of plant food in the soil, and lack of moisture, are all invita- 
tions to these invaders. The natural resistance of the plant is 
broken down, and it becomes a prey to its enemies. But the best 
growing conditions do not render plants immune against all pests. 
Some are so aggressive that the grower has to fight to save his crop, 
and to fight hard sometimes. 

Fortunately, warfare against insects has been greatly simpli- 
fied during recent years by the use of remedies of comparatively 
recent application. There are two chief divisions of insects : first, 
biting insects, which are recognized by the gardener by the fact that 
they make holes in the foliage; second, sucking insects, which make 
no holes, but pierce and extract the sap in such a way that the leaf 
curls or wilts, loses color and perhaps dies without losing any ap- 
preciable part of its surface. Each of these classes has its own 
remedy. 

Remedies for Biting Insects. — Insects which consume the leaf 
surface are destroyed by poison, and this can be used in such minute 
quantities as not to destroy the foliage nor render it dangerous for 
food purposes unless the plant is nearly in condition for eating, and 
then, of course, poison on the foliage is very dangerous if the foliage 
is the edible part. If the edible part is the root or tuber, poison on 
the foliage is not dangerous. The most widely used poison was 
Paris green until the arsenate of lead rose to such prominence in 
plant protection, because of its less cost and less danger of injury to 
foliage. Paris green can be used either as a powder mixed with 
twenty times its bulk of flour and dusted on the plant, or applied as 



300 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

a spray or sprinkle, using an ounce of Paris green to ten or twelve 
gallons of water. 

Lead arsenate, either in paste or powder form, may be used at 
the rate of one pound to fifteen gallons of water — well stirred in 
and frequently stirred during application. A very convenient way 
is to use arsenate of lead powder as a "dry spray" dusted on the 
foliage to be protected. Mix the powder with an equal amount of 
sulphur, flour, sifted ashes or any finely powdered neutral substance. 
One of the best of these powders is sifted ashes. The mixture is 
put into a small bag of cheese cloth or other similar material, and 
shaken over the plants. Being easily seen, the operator can apply 
as much or as little as he wishes. If applied in early morning the 
moisture will cause the material to adhere to the leaves more closely. 
An application every ten days should keep the pests under control 
except when followed by a rain, in which case the new application 
should be made. 

Either Paris green or lead arsenate will kill all forms of in- 
sects, large or small, which make holes in leaves. It only becomes 
ineffective when insects occur in such vast multitudes that the plant 
is all consumed before all the insects are supplied with the poison. 
This would happen in the case of an invasion by grasshoppers or 
army worms, which, fortunately, does not often occur in garden 
practice. 

For larvae which come from the ground and destroy the plant 
by cutting the stem, Paris green and arsenate of lead, either dust or 
sprinkle, may be placed on tender leaves or sprigs of alfalfa which 
are placed on the ground beside the plants to be protected. The 
most injurious insects of this kind are called "cutworms." It is 
also often satisfactory to use the the poison in this way : 

Coarse bran, 16 lbs. ; Paris Green, % lb. ; salt, Vi lb. ; cheap syrup, 1 qt. ; 
warm water to make a coarse, crumbly mash. Be sure not to get the material 
sloppy; it should fall apart readily in the hand after being pressed together. 

Place a spoonful of this near the plants being injured, not 
getting it too near the stalk. It is a good plan to do this in the 
evening so the mash will remain moist for a longer time. If a new 
lot of worms hatch, the dose will have to be repeated. Poultry and 
pet animals must be kept away. 

The same preparation is also very effective for grasshoppers 
in vineyards, but, as already stated, there is little chance of coping 
with grasshoppers or army worms in the garden by poisoning. Un- 
less they can be checked by walls of fire or streams of running 
water around the garden, the gardener has little to do but to replant 
as soon as they have passed on their way. 

When biting insects attack plants which it is not thought safe 
to poison, the use of a powder of air-slacked lime or of dry wood 
ashes is often effective in discouraging their attacks. Another re- 
pellant which sometimes works like a charm is kerosene powder 



INSECT REMEDIES 301 

made by stirring a tablespoonful of the oil to a quart of pulverized 
gypsum, or air-slacked lime, or even fine road dust. Scatter it on- 
and around the plant. 

Plants may also be often rendered unattractive to insects by 
free sprinkling with tar water. Take a barrel with a few gallons 
of gas tar in it, pour water on the tar, and have it always ready 
when needed. When the insects appear give them a liberal dose 
of the tar water from a garden sprinkler or otherwise ; when the 
rain washes it off the leaves, or the pests return, repeat the dose. 

There are other biting and boring insects which destroy plants 
by their injuries to the roots. Wireworms are a conspicuous group 
of these destroyers. All underground pests are naturally difficult 
of treatment and often in field practice they cannot be economically 
destroyed or discouraged. In garden practice, however, the use of 
soot or nitrate of soda, in very small quantities, or of tobacco dust, 
the extract of which is carried down by water to the discomfiture 
of the pest, is often effective and profitable. 

Another group of biting pests though not strictly insects are 
slugs and snails. They can be poisoned by the use of poisoned 
leaves lead on the ground, or they can be trapped either with leaves 
or pieces of board or little piles of wheat bran. Early in the morn- 
ing the slugs will be found in large numbers under the leaves or 
boards, or collected in the bran, and can easily be gathered up for 
breakfast in the poultry yard. Mother hens in portable coops with 
the young chicks or ducks running among the plants, are a very 
good solution of the slug question on a small scale. Myriads of 
slugs in the garden are often due to excessive surface irrigation. 
If the surface is finely worked up and allowed to dry it is very dis- 
couraging to slugs and is otherwise promotive of plant growth. 

Remedies for Sucking Insects. — These are pests both large and 
small which bring distress to plants without visibly consuming their 
substance, as has already been described. They are not aff'ected by 
poison on the surface. They must be killed by applications which 
destroy by contact with the exterior of the insects. The universally 
approved remedy for this large class of pests is kerosene emulsion. 
If properly made and diluted, it is harmless to the plant and deadly 
to the insect. The formula which is most easily prepared and most 
available for garden work, is that devised by the late Prof. A. J. 
Cook as follows : 

Common laundry soap % pounds. 

Kerosene 3 pints. 

Water AV^ gallons. 

Cut up and dissolve the soap in six quarts of boiling water in a 
five-gallon oil can. Remove from the fire and add the kerosene, 
and stir violently until you make an emulsion from which the oil 
will not separate when cool. This may be done by churning, by 
revolving agitators, as in an tgg beater, or by pumping the stuff 



302 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

back into itself with nozzle and force pump. The last is the com- 
monest way. When the agitation is adequate practically the whole 
of the mess changes form and becomes like clabbered milk, and this 
is added to ten or more times its bulk of water, according to the 
strength you desire to use. One to 20 is strong enough for plant 
lice. The essential is not in strength, but in getting the dope on the 
bug with a garden syringe or spray-pump, and it will kill all in- 
sects which are covered with a film of it. A fine rose sprinkler can 
be used, but it is wasteful and the application does not penetrate as 
well as from a spray-nozzle. 

Next in importance to oil emulsions in the warfare against 
sucking insects are the tobacco preparations and they are so efficient 
against some small pests like aphis, thrips, white fly, etc., that they 
are often added to the water used in diluting the emulsions. To- 
bacco preparations are both home-made and commercial. One 
pound of tobacco leaves or stems steeped in four gallons of hot 
water produces a good insecticide. The commercial extract con- 
taining 40% of nictotine is used at the rate of one pint to two 
hundred gallons of water or of diluted emulsion. Nicotine extracts 
are sold under various names as insecticides by druggists and seeds- 
men and are usually worth their higher cost because of convenience 
in securing small quantities ready for use. 

The emulsions and tobacco washes will, of course, kill many 
insects for which poison has been prescribed and are available 
whenever the use of poison is thought to be undesirable. They 
have their limitations, however: the stuff must be thrown on the 
insect while poison will wait for the insect to come to it. 

WAYS WITH PARTICULAR PESTS. 

The vegetable grower will be armed against insects if he is 
ready with the few insecticides we have described — to be placed 
upon the insect's food or upon the body of the insect, as the nature 
of his work on the plant indicates, but he must not get the idea that 
the warfare is easy. The appalling rapidity of insect reproduction 
and the no less appalling number of the kinds of them; the sudden- 
ness of their appearance and the diversity of the ways in which 
they make their attacks — all these should warn the grower to watch 
his plants closely and to strike fast and hard as soon as he sees the 
first of the hosts of invaders which he must learn to expect. In 
the battle with pests an early beginning is more than half the 
winning. 

Although it is obviously impossible to include in a handbook of 
general practice with vegetables detailed account of all pests likely 
to be encountered, it may be useful to compile a sketch of frequent 



PLANT LICE AND ANTS 303 

troubles in this line with suggestion of ways to meet them — in ad- 
dition to the notes of particular pests which have been given in 
some of the chapters on various vegetables. 

Plant Lice or Aphides. — Of all garden pests the large group 
of species of winged and wingless insects known as plant lice are 
probably the worst. They attack nearly all vegetables and if not 
checked will destroy whatever they attack. They are sometimes 
checked by their natural enemies such as lady birds or by unfavor- 
able weather conditions, but in the garden one should be ready to 
attack them at first appearance with the remedies just described 
for sucking insects. Their presence should be suspected whenever 
one sees ants visiting his plants. The ant as a rule is not directly 
a plant pest but he is indirectly, for he cherishes the plant to grow 
lice for his use. Therefore, when you see ants running up and 
down a plant spray to kill the aphis. The ant does not wait until 
the leaves begin to get curled and misshapen. And if the grower 
waits for such signs of distress it will be too late to do much for it. 
As soon as their growth begins the undersides of the leaves should 
be examined for lice and such examination should continue at short 
intervals and as soon as any are seen the plants should be sprayed 
with a nozzle which will hit the undersides of the leaves. They 
can be killed with ordinary soap suds if the fight is early and often. 

Where the plant lice are found strongly established on a single 
plant or a few plants or hills of plants and not elsewhere it is often 
desirable to proceed heroically. Early in the spring the insect is 
often thus limited to a very small number of plants upon which they 
become exceedingly abundant before developing wings and spread- 
ing generally over the field. When this is the case sprinkle gasoline 
on each of the early infested vines and set fire to it, thus killing all 
the aphids as well as the plant. This practice may not prevent the 
final general infection of the field, but delays the time of infestation 
very appreciably and gives you a chance to keep ahead of the pest 
by spraying as has been described above. 

In a home garden squash, melon and other vines can be dosed 
for plant lice by turning the vines over ; taking up the end of each 
runner and carrying it back over the center of the hill. This inverts 
most of the leaves for a thorough drenching without undue loss of 
labor and material. Care is required that blossoms and young fruit 
are not damaged, and it cannot well be done after the fruit reaches 
much size. 

Killing Ants. — Though ants do not injure plants in the ways 
usually attributed to them, their work in cherishing and colonizing 
plant lice indicates that they should be destroyed — it is easy to get 
rid of them in a small space like a house garden. Professor Wood- 



304 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

worth of the University gives the following poison for ants in 
gardens or houses : 

Strong for native ants Weak for Argentine ants ^ 
White arsenic 2 oz. 1 scruple 

Sal soda 4 oz. 1 teaspoonful 

Sugar 1 lb. 1 lb. 

Water 1 pt. 1 pt. 

For native ants, expose a small quantity of the strong poison. 
For the Argentine ant, place a sponge in a fruit jar, saturate it with the 
weak poison, make a few nailholes in the cover and keep jar in pantry and 
several others in the yard about the house. Add more poison from time to 
time. 

Destruction of Nests. — In all the species where there are large 
nests with a single opening pour down one ounce of carbon bisul- 
phide, either in each of the natural openings or in holes made by 
thrusting in a crowbar and covering everything with earth. The 
gas destroys both young and old. This method can be applied to 
any species where the nest can be discovered, but in the case of the 
Argentine species it becomes the least valuable of any method, since 
the nests are usually scattered almost everywhere over the whole 
surface of the ground and the treatment to be effective would have 
to include the entire ground space for acres. 

When the soil is very dry the carbon bisulphide dissipates too 
rapidly to destroy the whole nest and better results have been se- 
cured with a solution of cyanide of potassium. The method con- 
sists in making a rather strong solution (say 8 oz. to one gallon of 
water) of the cyanide and pouring it into the holes in the same way 
that carbon bisulphide is used, only more of the material is applied, 
the amount actually used, of course, depending on the size of the 
colony. It must be remembered that carbon bisulphide is very ex- 
plosive and must be kept away from open lights ; also that cyanide 
and its vapor are virulently poisonous to man and beast and must 
be carefully used. Hydrocyanic gas is liberated in the soil by this 
means and kills all ground pests it reaches. 

Cut Worms. — Young plants that are just pushing through the 
ground are often found cut off near the surface of the ground, with 
the wilted tops tilted over or lying near. If you rake in the loose 
dirt below you will probably find sleek, well fed, greasy, sparsely 
haired cutworm caterpillars, which are the larvae of clumsy mottled 
grey and brown moths which are attracted to lights and many of 
them can be caught by putting small lamps over pans of water on 
which is a film of coal oil. 

Poisoned bait for cutworms has already been described. They 
may also be reduced by raking them out of the dirt and crushing 
them or you can let the fowls scratch them out if they are not 
likely to injure the plants more than the worms do. Several kinds 
of birds, induing the robin, catbird, blackbird, and quail, feed 
on cutworms. Toads also like them and should be encouraged 



CUTWORMS AND WIREWORMS 305 

and protected rather than destroyed. Spiders and wasps also prey 
on cutworms. 

Plants may be protected by pressing stiff cylinders of paper or 
tin down into the soil about the stems, allowing them to project 
about two inches above the ground, or each plant may be wrapped 
in a piece of newspaper as it is transplanted from the seed-bed. 

IVirezvorms. — If the larger garden seeds are not coming up 
and you dig down and find them being eaten by a flattish, yellowish, 
slim worm which you try to pull apart and find it very tough, you 
are being visited by wireworms. You may also find such worms 
destroying your seed potatoes or burrowing into cabbage stalks or 
other vegetables with fleshy roots. These worms begin by eating 
the sprouting seed and continue eating roots until they are fully 
grown, when they make earthen cocoons in the ground and trans- 
form into long, slim beetles which are called skip or click beetles, 
because they snap themselves over when laid upon their backs. 

Wireworms can be fought in the garden by a very thin scat- 
tering of nitrate of soda along the proposed rows. They can also 
be killed by poisoning things which they like, like cut potatoes or 
other roots, green alfalfa, etc., and burying these in the ground in 
advance of planting. But if the garden spot is badly infested it is 
better to make a new garden on clean land and kill out the pests 
by starving and burning. Go at it in midsummer, plow up deeply 
(for the worms go down as far as eight inches) and expose the soil 
to autumn heat and drouth as much as possible. Leave it rough 
and let it bake and blister in the sun as much as it can, and fence 
the fowls on it. The following winter put on grain, cut it early 
for hay and then plow up the stubble and disk it deeply at intervals 
next summer to continue the drying and burning process on the 
worms and keep on the fowls to do the catching also. If you keep 
at this for a full year vegetables will be reasonably safe the year 
following. 

The best natural enemies of wireworms are frogs and toads, 
and the horned toad is particularly good at them. 

Eehvorms or Nematodes. — Practically all fleshy roots and 
bulbs among garden plants are liable to attack by eelworms which 
are so small that one cannot discern their details without a micro- 
scope. Their work is usually manifested by mal-formed or de- 
formed and enlarged roots and rootlets. No treatment has been 
demonstrated to be effective in destroying them and saving the 
plant which should be dug up and burned. Dig a hole, put back the 
diseased roots with a good lot of straw and bake the hole good and 
plenty. When the crop is off dig or plow up loosely and let the soil 
bake as dry as possible until the rains come and then plant grain for 
hay and take a piece of new ground for vegetables if possible. These 
pests have done great injury to potatoes recently and seed potatoes 
should be free from them. 



306 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

Millipcds. — These are ''thousand legged worms" which curl up 
when disturbed into black balls. There are many sizes of them: 
the small ones, which are hardly larger than shot when curled up, 
do most harm because most abundant. Some students of them hold 
strongly that they only affect decaying vegetation, such as potatoes 
partly decayed, lower leaves of lettuce, etc.. but Mr. Essig has 
found them in a solid lettuce head, so their record is not clear. They 
may be poisoned by powdering sliced potatoes, lettuce leaves, etc., 
with Paris green and placing them on the ground, under pieces of 
board — or they may be trapped under pieces of board or flat stones 
placed for that purpose and then killed, by hand or foot, as you may 
prefer. 

Diabroticas. — These are often called striped or spotted "green 
lady birds," but no true lady bird is green nor does she do the bad 
work of the diabroticas. Their specialty is the squash, melon and 
cucumber, etc., but they do not hesitate at beans, corn and many 
other plants. They can be poisoned with lead arsenate as already 
prescribed for biting insects when they are working on foliage 
which is not designed to eat, but they have a way of taking many 
things which it is not safe to poison. They can be discouraged by 
dusting the plants with slaked lime — perfumed with coal oil by 
stirring in enough for strong perfume without making the lime too 
wet for dusting. Other powdery insecticides, like carbolated lime, 
tobacco dust, etc., also accomplish this purpose. They can some- 
times be driven away by smoke from fires on the windward side. 
They can be shaken early in the morning from tall plants onto a 
catching sheet. We know of no easy way with them. 

Flea Beetles and Darkling Beetles. — These two small pests are 
not closely related but we group them on the basis of their chief 
work which is to attack young seedlings or transplants and knock 
them out before they have a fair show in the world. The flea 
beetle is not much larger than a flea and is usually first seen as a 
flea is apt to be when it is on the jump. Its function is to corrugate 
the leaf surface and perforate the leaf and cause its quick collapse. 
The "darkling" beetle is a slim, black pest about a quarter of an 
inch in length which attacks the plants just at or below the ground 
surface. Its specialty in gardening is tomato plants and it is largely 
averted by wrapping the plant in a piece of newspaper when setting 
out, as described on page 273. W. S. Booth, of Mountain View, 
protected his transplants of tomatoes with notable success against 
both flea and darkling beetles in this way : 

I mixed neutral arsenate of lead with water at the rate of one pound to 
thirty gallons of water. I recommend mixing about ten gallons at a time to 
keep the solution clean. This amount would be enough for about 3,000 plants. 
Frequent stirring is necessary, as lead arsenate does not dissolve much better 
than fine sand. Taking thirty to fifty plants in a bunch, I dipped the tops 
clear to the roots in the solution just before taking them to the field. Fol- 
lowing this treatment, I did not lose one-half of one per cent of my plants 



SQUASH AND POTATO PESTS 307 

from insects, while another grower who had several acres near by had to 
replant more than one-half of his ground. 

These pests can also be checked by thoroughly dusting the 
plants with arsenate of lead powder, already described in this chap- 
ter; or with Paris green thoroughly mixed with flour at the rate of 
one ounce to the pound. 

Squash Bugs. — These are the disagreeable black insects which 
take to the squash family and are commonly known as "stink bugs." 
They cannot be poisoned because they suck juices and do not eat 
the leaf surface on which the poison is spread. The young insects 
can be killed by spraying with kerosene emulsion, but the old ones 
are hard to get by any process except hand-picking and smashing. 
One should always be on the lookout for this pest and pounce 
quickly on the first appearance and the masses of dark brown eggs 
which they deposit on the leaves and stems of the plants they infest, 
and stamp out the trouble by hand-picking. Various growers have 
reported some success with a spray of creolin (a tablespoonful to a 
gallon of water) also with powdering the vine and nearby ground 
with tobacco dust, also with a powder made by stirring enough 
kerosene oil into air-slaked lime as already noted for diabroticas. 
They can be trapped under pieces of board, etc., placed near to the 
plants and can be crushed early in the morning. Unless one starts 
in very early the pest is very hard to control but it is fortunately 
not very abundant. All garden rubbish should be cleaned up in the 
fall for it is in such shelter that the insects hibernate. Such clean- 
ing up and springtime watchfulness are the most promising re- 
courses. 

Hills of plants can be protected from early attack by stink bugs 
by covering with cloth, paper, etc. One way is thus : Make arches 
of baling wire big enough so that by the time a paper laid over the 
arch would be in the way of the growing vines, the vines would be 
big enough to escape damage. Put such an arch over each hill and 
cover it with a square of thin, tough wrapping paper which you will 
have dipped into high grade distillate or heavy kerosene. Lay the 
paper cornerwise on the arch and fasten the corners down with 
dirt. It will allow light to pass through and will keep off any mi- 
grating bugs. 

The Potato JVonn. — This serious pest is mentioned on page 
246 as the third of the great potato destroyers. It is commonly 
first noticed by the burrows in the tuber which separate from the 
flesh after cooking in black strings. Their work also inpairs the 
external appearance of the fresh tubers. The worm is the offspring 
of a small gray moth wdiich lays its eggs in early and again in late 
summer on potato foliage or stems or on the stems of other plants, 
mostly of the potato family, or on exposed tubers in the field or in 
the storeroom. As the eggs hatch, the caterpillars either mine the 
stems and leaves, rarely pushing down in case of loose soil several 



308 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

inches and may enter potatoes which are not exposed. Their bur- 
rows in the tubers ruin them and permit of further destruction in 
field or cellar, as more moths are bred to lay more eggs. There may 
be three, possibly four, broods in a season. In addition to the sug- 
gestion given on page 246 the following protective details may be 
noted : 

Plant as deep as practicable (5 to 6 inches), except in winter 
planting where much rain is expected and the ground likely to be 
too wet; in that case ridge or hill-up to keep tubers well covered. 

Harvest as early as possible, before the potato tops become so 
dry as to drive the partially grown larvae to descend and work on 
the tuber. 

In harvesting the sacks should never be covered with potato 
tops, as the larvae leave these when they wilt and enter the potatoes. 
The sacks should be sewed as soon as possible and hauled from the 
field, and dug potatoes should never be left in the field or exposed 
to the moth over night. All cull potatoes should be gathered up 
within two weeks and either fed to stock at once or destroyed. 

White Fly. — This is a small winged insect, floury white, which 
has a great liking for beans, but may take to many other vegetables. 
It attacks the underside of the leaves which first turn yellow in 
spots and finally all over, and then fall as the insects draw the juices 
from them. Whenever the plant is touched they rise up almost like 
smoke and then settle back. They can be killed with kerosene 
emulsion, properly made without injury to plants. You need a 
good pump and nozzle to make a spray-cloud to dislodge them from 
the under sides of the leaves and entangle them in air also. 

Other Pests. — The gardener will, of course, encounter many 
other pests, but he must not be dismayed. The treatment will 
usually be indicated by the character of the injury inflicted, as sug- 
gested earlier in this chapter, and by the ways of working and 
fighting the chief pests which we have particularized. Specific pests 
are also mentioned in the preceding cultural chapters : on beans, 
page 141; on cabbage, page 164; on corn, page 187; on potatoes, 
page 246. 

Whenever insects do not yield to the treatments proposed, or 
whenever the use of these remedies does not seem to be practicable, 
it is well for the grower to apply to Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion, University of California, Berkeley, sending a specimen of the 
insect and of its work if possible. An answer embodying the latest 
information on the subject, will be made without cost to the appli- 
cant. Useful descriptive publications will also be sent in many cases. 

INJURIOUS FUNGI. 

Molds, mildews and blights seem to be ever on the alert to 
attack garden plants whenever suitable conditions prevail. Fortu- 
nately. California is much less subject to these intrusions than 



TREATMENTS OF BLIGHTS AND MILDEWS 309 

countries with humid summer heat, and some very destructive gar- 
den fungi either do not occur here or occasion very little trouble. 
Still it is well for the gardener to know that the arrest of fungous 
invasion is a very much simpler proposition than it was some years 
ago. This fact is due to the demonstration of the efficacy of solu- 
tions of copper salts. The most effective preparation is known as 
the Bordeaux mixture, which is prepared as follows : 

Dissolve one-half pound copper sulphate (bluestone) in two and one- 
half gallons of water in a wooden pail, slake one-half pound fresh lime in 
one-half gallon of hot water, stirring and rubbing till completely slaked ; 
when the lime is cool put the bluestone solution into a five-gallon oil can, 
and add the lime by allowing it to run through a coarse cloth strained to 
remove lumps or dirt. Stir in water enough to fill the can and it is ready 
for use. The mixture should not stand in a metal vessel. 

This makes a light blue whitewash which will be effective as it 
slowly diffuses its components over the leaf surface. In our dry 
summer it remains operative for a long time. It does, however, 
make the plant unhandsome, and where a fungicide is desired which 
does not discolor the leaves, the following may be substituted for 
the Bordeau mixture : 

Dissolve three-fourths ounce of copper sulphate (bluestone) in one quart 
of warm water, and one ounce of salsoda (washing soda) in another quart 
of warm water. When both are cool, mix them together and add five ounces 
of washing ammonia. When the mixture is clear, after standing long enough 
to accomplish that, add cold water to make five gallons. 

This preparation is much shorter in its protective effect than 
when the copper is progressively set free from the lime as in the 
Bordeaux mixtures. 

Obviously these copper compounds cannot be applied to foliage 
which is the edible part of the vegetable except during the early 
period of its growth. 

Some fungi are quite readily checked by the use of dry sulphur, 
but when this is not effective, the copper compounds will be found 
satisfactory. 

In many cases the attacks of fungi may be avoided by keeping 
the plants growing thriftily, or by choosing varieties which are not 
affected by the diseases to which other varieties succumb. Wher- 
ever this course is open to the gardener, it will be found more satis- 
factory than the application of remedies. 

DESTRUCTIVE ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 

Against the larger marauders from the forest, the field or the 
barnyard, the farm garden must be protected by an adequate fence 
close enough to exclude fowls and jack-rabbits. For the latter pur- 
pose closely set strands of barbed wire are the cheapest material. 
The bottom wire must be set low enough to prevent entrance by 
scratching under. Even when a neater fence is made of wire net- 



310 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

ting, strands of barbed wire above and below are often very useful. 
The method of making such fencing is described on page 86. 

A good rabbit-proof fence can be built with chicken wire net- 
ting two feet wide, stapled to the inside of the posts, the bottom 
of it at the ground surface and barbed wire with bars 2^/2 inches 
apart run along just above the ground surface to prevent tunneling 
under, with another barbed wire stapled to the other side of the post 
just above the upper line of the fence to prevent jumping over. If 
you can get barbs 2^/2 inches apart, you can make a good rabbit 
fence by excluding the netting and running the wires about 3 inches 
apart until you come to 2 feet and 6 inches apart above that. Then 
keep a greyhound and a shot gun for the rabbits which may man- 
age to get through in some way. 

In a small garden rabbits can be fooled by a straw cover. Mr, 
H. C. Tracy, of Hollywood, gives this interesting experience: 

In my garden bounded on two sides by brush, having on previous oc- 
casions had no luck with poisons and deterrents, I tried spreading over all 
my plantings a light scattering of straw — by no means enough to darken 
the seedlings but quite sufficient to screen them from rabbit-brained ma- 
rauders, who seemed to regard the whole field as a straw patch. A corner 
which I neglected was eaten to the ground, but where my ruse was first 
tried out I now have beans with pods six inches long, their tops, of course, 
showing plainly above the straw, but remaining unmolested. 

Squirrels. — Ground squirrels should be destroyed in the ad- 
joining fields as well as in the garden, or its protection is almost a 
hopeless undertaking. When the ground is wet, squirrels are very 
satisfactorily destroyed with carbon bisulphide, and this material, 
with appliances and instructions for its use, can usually be had in 
country stores. 

In dry soil the carbon bisulphide is not as effective, and some 
of the many good squirrel poisons must be used. The following 
has been shown to be very satisfactory : 

Strychnine, one ounce ; cyanide of potassium, one and one-half ounces ; 
eggs, one dozen ; honey, one pint ; vinegar one and one-half pints ; wheat or 
barley, thirty pounds. Dissolve the strychnine in the vinegar, pulverizing it 
in the vinegar, or it will gather in a lump. See that it is all dissolved. Dis- 
solve the cyanide of potassium in a little water. Beat the eggs. Mix all the 
ingredients together thoroughly before adding to the barley. Let it stand 
twenty-four hours, mixing often. Spread to dry before using, as it will mold 
if put away wet. 

A cheaper and exceedingly effective poison is that invented by 
Mr. S. E. Piper of the U. S. Department of Agriculture as follows : 

Whole barley (recleaned) 14 lbs. 

Strychnine sulphate 1 ounce 

Soda (bicarbonate) 1 ounce 

Saccharine 1 dram 

Thin starch paste 1 pint 

Corn starch (Karo or equal) 2 ounces 

Dissolve the strychnine in hot water ; thicken with starch to about the 
consistency of thin soup. Dissolve the soda in one-half pint of hot water 



KILLING GOPHERS 311 

and add a little at a time to the poisoned starch until effervescence ceases, 
then add the syrup and saccharine, mix well and apply to the grain, stirring 
constantly until the poison is evenly distributed throughout, and the grain is 
thoroughly dry. 

Each quart of the poisoned grain is sufificient for 40 to 50 baits. 
This quantity scattered along squirrel trails or runs but not close 
to the holes, will not endanger the stock but will kill poultry. 

Trapping Gophers. — Some gardeners are very successful in 
gopher trapping. It is an art which has to be learned by experience 
and patient observation. The following suggestions are made by 
an expert and they may be helpful to beginners : 

Gophers come to the surface in the night and generally close their holes 
in the morning soon after daybreak. They frequently emerge again about 
noon, and a third time late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap in an 
open hole, as the gopher will be sure to return to fill it. Still the holes may 
be opened if the dirt is still fresh, with a good prospect of the gopher's 
return. Therefore the trapper may make his rounds three times a day, as 
above indicated. 

In the second place, care should be exercised in preparing the hole for 
the insertion of the trap. The trapper should assure himself that he has 
found a straight hole for a distance of at least ten inches, with no lateral 
branches, otherwise the gopher in pushing out the dirt will likely enough 
thrust the trap to one side, cover it up or spring it without being exposed 
to its grasp. 

In the third place the trapper should be supplied with at least two 
varieties of traps — one for the larger gophers and the other for the smaller 
ones. The common iron gopher trap, which springs downward, is excellent 
for the former, and the small wire trap, which springs upward, is generally 
successful with the latter. It is taken for granted that the size of the hole 
is indicative of the size of the gopher. Either trap should be inserted nearly 
its full length into the hole, pressed down firmly, and a little dirt piled at 
the outer end to prevent its being easily pushed out. After the trap is set 
it is well to cover the opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the 
holes require a little enlarging, but care should be taken to make the fit 
as close as possible, that the body of the gopher may be kept near the center, 
and thus more exposed to the prongs of the trap. 

In the fourth place, the trapper should be supplied with a small spade 
and a little gouge-shaped implement for trimming the hole. 

Finally the trapper should be supplied with traps as numerous as the 
extent of the pest demands. He should not be discouraged by lack of suc- 
cess at first. Perseverance is as essential in this work as in any other, and 
will generally win. We have in mind the successful capture of a big gopher 
after trapping for him a week, changing the trap two or three times a day; 
he had then destroyed about fifty hills of corn. 

Poisoning Gophers. — Poisoning is an easier method of de- 
stroying gophers, and it is very satisfactory if faithfully done. The 
The poison is strychnine in crystal form, which can be pulverized 
in the small bottle in which it is bought by using the head of a nail. 
Take out a very small amount on the tip of a knife blade and insert 
it into raisins, or pieces of carrot, potato, alfalfa stems, or almost 
any succulent vegetable substance which is handy at the time. Find 
where the gopher has been at work last, and remove the loose earth 
from the surface, to find where it has come from; then dig down 



312 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

to find the main runway, generally from six to twelve inches. The 
runway being found, clean out any dirt that may have dropped into 
it, and place the poison a little distance from the opening. Then seal 
up the hole with a lump of earth or sod, being careful that none 
drops in on the poison, and put the dirt back as it was before. The 
gopher will soon return to his labor, and will seldom fail to pick 
up the bait. 

Another way to get into the burrow without disturbing the 
mounds is to sharpen a broom stick and push it into the earth 
about a foot back of the mound until it shows the runway by drop- 
ping into it. Drop in the poison and cover the hole you have made 
with dirt. 

It is often useless to put poison in holes left open by gophers 
when at work, as they shove the poison out with the dirt, and it be- 
comes lost. If the hole is opened and poison is placed therein it 
should be closed up again, as the gopher, seeing the light and feeling 
the air where it was not intended, goes to work to remedy that evil 
by showing a load of dirt against the opening, thereby covering up 
or throwing out the bait. 

For large scale work in poisoning gophers, this recipe is very 
eflfective : 

Sweet potatoes, parsnips, or carrots 8 quarts 

Flour paste V2 pint 

Strychnine alkaloid, powdered V4, ounce 

Saccharine 1/16 ounce 

Chop the vegetables, or cut them with a knife, into one-half 
inch cubes. Make a thin paste of flour and water and boil for a 
few minutes. Stir the strychnine and saccharine into one-half pint 
of the cooked paste and pour it over the chopped vegetables, stirring 
until each piece is coated. Two or three of these cubes are to be 
dropped in each runway. The alkaloid form of strychnine should 
be used in preference to the sulphate, as the former is but slightly 
soluble in water and remains largely on the outside of the bait, leav- 
ing the center sweet. The saccharine is used to disguise partially 
the bitterness of the strychnine. 

Sometimes the same poisoned grain used for squirrels can be 
successfully used for gophers by placing it in the runways as first 
described. 

The Mole. — The mole is an insect-eater and as such is bene- 
ficial, but he destroys so many plants while mining for grubs and 
worms, that a gardener can well dispense with his services. The 
best way to do this is to watch for the rising soil and striking in 
just behind the mole with a spade or shovel throw him out and 
finish him. When he is working in the lawn or where the ground 
is too hard for this treatment, strike into the moving earth with a 
hatchet. It generally reaches the animal, and we have killed more 
moles in this way than in any other. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 
WEEDS IN CALIFORNIA. 

For fear that a book on gardening without a chapter on weeds 
might prove too great a shock to horticultural propriety, this con- 
cession is made to conventionality. The fact is that the California 
gardener gives himself less concern about weeds than the distant 
reader can perhaps realize. There are several reasons for this. 

First: It is possible to get quite clean ground for winter gar- 
dening by weed-killing cultivation before planting. This is one ad- 
vantage of our long planting season. 

Second : Winter gardening is free from many weeds which 
only grow in high temperatures. 

Third : Owing to the long spring season it is possible to clean 
with hand tools or with plow and cultivators, the land which is to be 
planted after frosts are over. 

Fourth : Summer growth of weeds is largely prevented by the 
dry surface layer of the soil and those which do start are destroyed 
by the persistent summer cultivation which is essential to the pres- 
ervation of moisture for the crop. 

Fifth : Many of the worst weeds of humid climates cannot 
survive our dry summer in uncultivated soil and are thus prevented 
from becoming serious pests here because of their own natural 
limitations. 

And yet we do have weeds, magnificent weeds, weeds which 
reflect the growth-giving resources of our soil and climate quite as 
strikingly as do our useful plants. Mustard, turnip and radish ex- 
tend laterals for the birds of the air to rest upon. Smartweed grows 
in some places too high for a man to look over; in other places 
morning-glory, licorice, Bermuda and Johnson grasses have a grip 
upon the soil which is almost impossible to loosen. Jimson, dog- 
fennel and others, numerous beyond mention, are found in varying 
amounts everywhere ; but for the season stated above they do not 
give the gardener such grievance against fate as their names might 
suggest. On the other hand, Canada thistle and burdock are almost 
unknown, while pusley and quack grass have in some places as- 
sumed quite an air of respectability as forage plants. 

Naturally weeds are worst in soils which are moist in summer, 
such as the rich lowlands, and on such lands the California vege- 
table grower has to fight for his crop. Some winter-grown plants, 
like onions and various roots are secured at the cost of much weed- 
ing in some situations. Still it is true, as remarked above, that 
weeds do not, taking the state as a whole, call for such an amount 

[313] 



314 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 

of expensive effort as they occasion in humid climates, and if the 
garden is arranged, as it should be, for the free use of horse-power, 
the burden of hand pulling and hoeing is reduced to a minimum, 
and the exertion of a prolonged hand-to-hand contest with weeds is 
seldom heard of in California. 

For these reasons, perhaps, California has no special contribu- 
tions to make to general knowledge of weed killing. So far, how- 
ever, as her experience goes it is most strenuously in favor of de- 
stroying weeds as robbers of moisture which must be saved for use- 
ful plants. The California garden must be clean and the surface 
must be frequently stirred, whether weeds appear or not. It may 
be fortunate, then, that we are not altogether free from weeds, for 
their invitation to slaughter accomplishes far more for the garden 
than their own destruction. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Adobe, improvement of 36 

Ants, killing 303 

Aphis or plant lice 303 

April, work of 97 

Artichokes 120 

gathering 122 

globe 120 

growing plants 121 

Jerusalem 123 

planting out 121 

soils for 121 

varieties 122 

Ashes, value of 82 

Asparagus 125 

field culture 127 

garden planting 127 

growing plants 126 

harvesting 130 

localities for 125 

marketing 131 

season 131 

soils for 125 

varieties 132, 145 

August, work for 95 

Beans 133 

bugs 141 

bush 145 

canning 283 

climbing 147 

field culture 134 

garden culture 144 

harvesting 138 

irrigating 138 

localities for 134 

planting 136 

soils for 135 

threshing 139 

transplanting 147 

varieties for field 141 

Beds, raised Ti 

Beets 149 

cultivation 154 

garden culture 149 

harvesting 155 

planting 153 

pulp 156 

season 154 

soils and situations 152 

stock 157 

sugar 151 

thinning 155 

tillage for 152 

varieties 150, 156, 158 

yield 156 



PAGE 

Bordeaux mixture 309 

Borecole 170 

Broccoli 170 

Brussels sprouts 165- 

Cabbage 159 

field culture 162 

growing plants 161 

insects 164 

planting 161, 163 

soil 161 

stock 164 

varieties 164 

California climate 22, 27 

garden calendar 94 

soils excellent 33 

Cans for plant growing 118 

Cantaloups 206 

Capers 276 

Cardoon 122 

Carrot 172 

held culture 173 

garden culture 174 

ridge culture 173 

soils 172 

varieties 174 

Cassaba melons 212 

Cauliflower 160, 166 

garden culture 168 

growing plants 167 

planting 166 

varieties 169 

Celeriac 183 

Celery 177 

blanching 182 

crowding 181 

field culture 179 

garden culture 178 

growing plants 180 

harvesting 182 

locations 177 

soils 178 

varieties 183 

Chard, Swiss 151 

Chayote 276 

Chervil 277 

Chick pea 233 

Chicory 184 

culture 185 

drying and roasting 185 

soil 184 

yield and value 185 

Chives 228 

Ciboi.ile 228 

[ 315 1 



316 



INDEX 



Climate of California 22 

coast valleys 24 

early regions 26 

frostless places 30 

interior lowlands 24 

irrigated desert valleys 26 

mountain valleys 27 

plains and foothills 25 

Cloth for covering beds, etc 114 

Cloudiness and sunshine 27 

Cold frame, the Ill 

Corn 187 

canning . . . . v 284 

culture 189 

drying 290 

ear-worm 187 

field and silage 192 

locations 187 

planting 188 

pop 192 

soil 188 

varieties 191,192 

Corn salads 277 

Cress 277 

Cucumber 194 

culture 195 

locations for 194 

varieties 196 

Cultivation (see tillage) 66 

flat 74 

garden 71 

summer 67 

Cutworms 300,304 

Cuttings 118 

Damping off 114 

Dandelion 278 

December, work for 96 

Diabroticas 306 

Ditches, irrigation 51 

Drainage in California 61 

benefits of 62 

not always necessary 63 

surface 63 

under drainage 63 

Drying vegetables 285, 288 

Earliest regions 26 

Eelworms 305 

Egg plant 197 

culture 198 

locations for 197 

varieties 198 

Endive 185 

Engines, gasoline 43 

steam 43 



Farm gardens 16 

benefits of 18 

economics of 19 

essentials to success 17 

profitable 19 

February, work for 96 

Fences 86 

Fertilizers in California 76 

Flea beetles 306 

Frost, effects on vegetables 103 

occurrences of 30, 99 

protection from 298 

Frostless places 30 

Fungi, remedies for 309 

Furrow irrigation 54 

Garden, arrangement 85 

calendar 94 

horse work in 87 

insects 299 

location of 85 

place in mixed farming 20 

practice, diversity in 14 

protection 86, 298 

succession and rotation 104 

unirrigated 39 

weeds 313 

winds and frosts 298 

work seasonable 94 

Garlic 227 

Garbanzos 233 

Germination, conditions for 108 

Gherkin 278 

Ginger 278 

Gophers 310 

Hilling 73 

Hills, transplanting 117 

Hillside irrigation 51 

Hoe in California 71 

Horse radish 254 

Horse work, arrangement for... 87 

Hot-bed, the 112 

Hot box, the 113 

Hydraulic rams 45 

Insects, remedies for 299 

Intercropping 88 

Irrigation, garden 39 

advantages of 39 

check system 49 

current wheels 44 

fertilizing value of 60 

furrow system 54 

hillside 54 

how nmch 57 

hydraulic rams 45 

money value of 60 



INDEX 



317 



Irrigation, garden — Con tinned. 

must be adequate 59 

permanent ditch system 51 

picturesque 53 

pumps 43 

raised beds 50 

reservoirs 45 

ridge system 52 

seepage 41, 52 

siphons 45 

sources of 40 

sprinkling 55 

subirrigation 48 

temperature of water 57 

wheels 44 

windmills 43 

winter 56 

January, work for 96 

Jersey kale 170 

July, work for 94 

June, work for 97 

Kale or borecole 170 

Jersey 170 

marrow 171 

Kerosene emulsion 301 

Kitchen herbs 278 

Kohl-rabi 275 

Leek 227 

Lentil 233 

Lettuce 199 

garden culture 200 

t^eld culture 201 

varieties 204 

Manures, absorbents of 81 

animal 77 

as mulch 82 

bone 83 

composting 79 

deterioration of 78 

liquid 81 

tanks for 79 

March, work for 97 

May, work for 97 

Melons 206 

cantaloups 206, 208 

culture 207 

varieties 212 

winter 212 

watermelon 213 

culture 214 

harvesting 215 

location for 213 

varieties 216 

Millipeds 306 



PAGE 

Moisture, absorption of 67 

conditions of 67 

conservation of 68 

must be adequate 59 

Mole 312 

Mulch, earth 69 

Mulching 72 

Mushrooms 279 

Muskmelons 206 

Mustard 280 

Nasturtium 277, 280 

November, work for 95 

October, work for 95 

Okra 280 

Onions 217 

culture 219 

harvesting 225 

irrigation 224 

localities 218 

seed growing 293 

seed planting 219 

sets 223,225 

soils 218 

transplanting 221 

varieties 226 

Orchard, vegetables in 88 

Parsley 280 

Parsnip 174 

soils and culture 175 

varieties 175 

Peas 229 

canning 284 

culture 230 

drying green 289 

early 231 

field culture 231 

soils and situations 230 

sugar peas 232 

varieties 232 

squarepod 282 

Peat soils for vegetables 35 

Peppers 234 

culture 234 

varieties 238 

Planting season 92 

Planting time, tables 98 

Plow, use of 87 

Potatoes 239 

culture 244 

drying 289 

irrigation 244 

mulching 245 

season 239 

seed 242 

situations 239 



318 



INDEX 



Potatoes — Continued. 

soils 242 

sweet 248 

troubles 245 

varieties 247 

worms 307 

Production, distribution of 23 

Propagation 106 

cold frame Ill 

from seed 107 

hills for transplanting 117 

hot-bed 112 

hot box 113 

seed-boxes 110 

seedlings, handling 115 

warm heap 113 

watering 114 

Pumpkins 262 

Pumps, Chinese 43 

service of 43 

Rabbits, killing 310 

Radishes 253 

culture 253 

varieties 254 

Rainfall, occurrence of 45 

Raised beds 73 

Reservoir construction 45 

subterranean 48 

Rhubarb 256 

culture 256 

planting 257 

seedlings 256 

treatment 258 

varieties 259 

Ridge culture 52, 73 

Roselle 281 

Rutabaga 275 

Salsify 175 

Salting vegetables 287 

Sandy soil, improvements of ... . 37 

Sea kale 281 

Seed beds 117 

Seed-boxes 110 

covering 114 

firming soil for 108 

mulching 72,109 

Seed growing in California 292 

lettuce 294 

onion 293 

other seed 294 

preparation for market 296 

Seed, testing 106 

Seedlings, planting 116 

September, work for 95 

Shallot 228 

Soda, nitrate , . 84 



Soils, adobe 36 

alluvial 34 

deep not essential 32 

vegetable of California 32 

desirable characters of 33 

improvements of 35 

light soils preferred 32 

peat 35 

sediment 34 

Spinach 260 

culture 260 

New Zealand 261 

varieties 260 

Springtimes, two 22 

Square pod pea 282 

Squashes 262 

bugs 307 

culture 263 

large 262 

varieties 264 

Squirrels 310 

Sub-irrigation 48 

Sugar beets 152 

Summer fallow 67 

Sweet potatoes 248 

culture 250 

harvesting 251 

growing plants 249 

planting 250 

storing 251 

varieties 252 

Swiss chard 151 

Tamale covers 192 

Tillage, early 67 

flat 74 

for absorption 67 

for retention 68, 70 

to release moisture 75 

with irrigation 72 

Tomato 265 

canning 284 

culture 270 

growing plants 267 

irrigation 270 

localities 265 

paste 286 

planting out 269 

requirements 266 

varieties 271 

yield 271 

Trench irrigation 52 

Turnip 274 

culture 275 

varieties 275 

Udo 282 

Under drainage 63 



INDEX 



319 



Vegetables sundries 276 

Vegetables, canning and drying. . 

13, 283 

at missions 9 

by foreigners 11 

chance for Americans 11 

cheaper bought 18 

climatic requirements 22 

furnish capital for fruit 8 

growing in California 7 

in your orchard 88 

pioneer 7, 8, 9, 10 

shipping 12 

soils for 32 

value of product 14 

weights and sizes. 7, 12 



Water, importance of 17 

application of 49 

lifting devices 42 

requirements of soils 39 

Waterproof cloth 114 

Weeds in California 313 

Wells, artesian 42 

Wheels, current 44 

White tly 308 

Windmills, service of 43 

Winter gardening 30 

irrigation 36 

Wireworms 305 

Work, importance of 17 

for the months 94 

seasonable 92 

Yam 282 

Year, division of garden 22, 94 



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